The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 08, 2009
Filed:
Oct. 03, 2005
Shmuel Aharon, West Windsor, NJ (US);
Leo Grady, Yardley, PA (US);
Thomas Schiwietz, Plainsboro, NJ (US);
Shmuel Aharon, West Windsor, NJ (US);
Leo Grady, Yardley, PA (US);
Thomas Schiwietz, Plainsboro, NJ (US);
Siemens Medical Solutions USA. Inc., Malvern, PA (US);
Abstract
A method and system for segmenting an object in a digital image are disclosed. A user selects at least one foreground pixel or node located within the object and at least one background pixel or node located outside of the object. A random walk algorithm is performed to determine the boundaries of the object in the image. In a first step of the algorithm, a plurality of coefficients is determined. Next, a system of linear equations that include the plurality of coefficients are solved to determine a boundary of the object. The processing is performed by a graphics processing unit. The processing can be performed using the near-Euclidean LUV color space or a Lab color space. It is also preferred to use a Z-buffer in the graphics processing unit during processing. The object, once identified, can be further processed, for example, by being extracted from the image based on the determined boundary.