Morphological Image Processing

Introduction

► Morphology: a branch of biology that deals with the form

and structure of animals and plants

► Morphological image processing is used to extract image

components for representation and description of region
shape, such as boundaries, skeletons, and the convex hull

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 Preliminaries (1)

► Reflection

 , is defined as
The reflection of a set B, denoted B
 ==
B {w | w −b, for b ∈ B}

► Translation

The translation of a set B by point z = ( z1 , z2 ), denoted ( B) Z ,

is defined as
( B) Z ==
{c | c b + z , for b ∈ B}

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 Example: Reflection and Translation

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 Preliminaries (2)

► Structure elements (SE)

Small sets or sub-images used to probe an image under study for

properties of interest

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 Examples: Structuring Elements (1)

origin

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 Examples: Structuring Elements (2)
Accommodate the
entire structuring
elements when its Origin of B visits
origin is on the every element of A
border of the
original set A
At each location of
the origin of B, if B
is completely
contained in A,
then the location is
a member of the
new set, otherwise
it is not a member
of the new set.

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 Erosion

With A and B as sets in Z 2 , the erosion of A by B, denoted A B,

defined
=
A B { z | ( B) Z ⊆ A}
The set of all points z such that B, translated by z , is contained by A.

A { z | ( B) Z ∩ A =
B= ∅} c

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Example
of
Erosion
(1)

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Example
of
Erosion
(2)

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 Dilation

2
With A and B as sets in Z , the dilation of A by B,
denoted A ⊕ B, is defined as

{ ()
 ∩A≠∅
A ⊕ B= z | B
z
}
 and A
The set of all displacements z , the translated B
overlap by at least one element.

=
A ⊕B { ()
z |  B

 ∩ A ⊆ A
z  }
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 Examples of Dilation (1)

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 Examples of Dilation (2)

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 Duality

► Erosion and dilation are duals of each other with respect to

set complementation and reflection

( A − B) 
=A ⊕ B
c c

and
( A ⊕ B) 
=Ac − B
c

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 Duality

► Erosion and dilation are duals of each other with respect to

set complementation and reflection

{z | ( B )
( A − B=
) ⊆ A}
c c
Z

{z | ( B ) ∅}
c
= Z
∩A =
c

= {z | ( B ) Z
∩ Ac ≠ ∅}

= Ac ⊕ B

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 Duality

► Erosion and dilation are duals of each other with respect to

set complementation and reflection

{ ( ) ∩ A ≠ ∅}
c
( A=
⊕ B) 
c
z| B
Z

{ ()
= z |  ∩A =
B
Z
∅}
c


= Ac − B

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 Opening and Closing

► Opening generally smoothes the contour of an object,

breaks narrow isthmuses, and eliminates thin protrusions

► Closing tends to smooth sections of contours but it

generally fuses narrow breaks and long thin gulfs,
eliminates small holes, and fills gaps in the contour

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 Opening and Closing

The opening of set A by structuring element B,

denoted A  B, is defined as
A  B = ( A − B) ⊕ B

The closing of set A by structuring element B,

denoted AB, is defined as
AB = ( A ⊕ B ) − B

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 Opening

The opening of set A by structuring element B,

denoted A  B, is defined as
=A  B  {( B ) Z | ( B ) Z ⊆ A}

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 Example: Opening

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 Example: Closing

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 Duality of Opening and Closing

► Opening and closing are duals of each other with respect

to set complementation and reflection

( AB ) )
= (A  B
c c

( A  B) )
= ( A B
c c

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 The Properties of Opening and Closing

► Properties of Opening
(a) A  B is a subset (subimage) of A
(b) if C is a subset of D, then C  B is a subset of D  B
(c) ( A  B)  B = A  B
► Properties of Closing

(a) A is subset (subimage) of AB

(b) If C is a subset of D, then C 
B is a subset of D B
B) B = A B
(c) ( A
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 The Hit-or-Miss
Transformation

if B denotes the set composed of

D and its background,the match
(or set of matches) of B in A,
denoted A ∗ B,
A * B = ( A − D ) ∩  Ac − (W − D ) 

B = ( B1 , B2 )
B1 : object
B2 : background
A∗ B = ( A − B1 ) ∩ ( Ac − B2 )
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 Some Basic Morphological Algorithms (1)

► Boundary Extraction
The boundary of a set A, can be obtained by first eroding A
by B and then performing the set difference between A and
its erosion.

β ( A) =A − ( A − B )

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 Example 1

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 Example 2

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 Some Basic Morphological Algorithms (2)

► Hole Filling
A hole may be defined as a background region surrounded
by a connected border of foreground pixels.

Let A denote a set whose elements are 8-connected

boundaries, each boundary enclosing a background region
(i.e., a hole). Given a point in each hole, the objective is to
fill all the holes with 1s.

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 Some Basic Morphological Algorithms (2)

► Hole Filling
1. Forming an array X0 of 0s (the same size as the array
containing A), except the locations in X0 corresponding to
the given point in each hole, which we set to 1.

2. Xk = (Xk-1 + B) ∩Ac k=1,2,3,…

Stop the iteration if Xk = Xk-1

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 Example

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 Some Basic Morphological Algorithms (3)

► Extraction of Connected Components

Central to many automated image analysis applications.

Let A be a set containing one or more connected

components, and form an array X0 (of the same size as the
array containing A) whose elements are 0s, except at each
location known to correspond to a point in each connected
component in A, which is set to 1.

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 Some Basic Morphological Algorithms (3)

► Extraction of Connected Components

Central to many automated image analysis applications.

X k= ( X k −1 + B) ∩ A
B : structuring element

until X k = X k -1

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