1/116 Image Segmentation

Introduction
Segmentation Techniques
Performance Evaluation
Color Image Segmentation
Conclusion
Image Segmentation
1/116 Image Segmentation

Introduction
Conclusion
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
Digital Image Processing
What is Image Segmentation?
Problem Definition
Methodology
2 Segmentation Techniques
Discontinuity Based Segmentation
Point and Line Detection
Edge Detection
Similarity Based Segmentation
Thresholding Based Segmentation
Region Based Segmentation
Clustering Based Segmentation
3 Performance Evaluation
4 Color Image Segmentation
5 Conclusion

Introduction
Problem Definition
Methodology
Conclusion
Lecture Outline
1 Introduction
2 Techniques
3 Performance Evaluation
4 Color Image Segmentation
5 Conclusions

Introduction
Problem Definition
Methodology
Conclusion
Digital Image & Digital Image Processing
An image is a 2D function, I = f (x , y )
where x and y are spatial coordinates
Amplitude of f at any pair of coordinates (x , y ) is called the
intensity (I) or gray level of the image.
When spatial coordinates and amplitude values are all finite,

discrete quantities, the image is called as digital image.
Processing of such images by digital computers is called

Digital Image Processing.

Introduction
Problem Definition
Methodology
Conclusion
Definition
Image Segmentation is the partitioning of an image into
meaningful regions that have strong correlation with objects or
areas of the real world contained in the image.
Definition
Image Segmentation is a procedure that describes the process of
dividing an image into non overlapping, connected image areas,
called regions, on the basis of criteria governing similarity and
homogeneity.
5/116 S Image Segmentation

Introduction
Problem Definition
Methodology
Conclusion
Necessity of Image Segmentation
Image segmentation is a prerequisite for most of the machine

vision application or for image analysis.
Success of the machine vision applications is highly
dependent on the success of the autonomous segmentation
of images.
Every machine vision application should have a support of
robust segmentation algorithm.

Introduction
Problem Definition
Methodology
Conclusion
Segmentation Examples
Figure: Original Image
Figure: Segmented Image

Introduction
Problem Definition
Methodology
Conclusion
Segmentation Examples
Figure: MRI Image Segmentation

Introduction
Problem Definition
Methodology
Conclusion
Problem Definition
Segmentation can be considered as a pixel labeling problem.

Every pixel in an image is assigned a label such that pixels
with the same label share certain visual characteristics.
Each of the pixels in a region are similar with respect to some
characteristic, such as color, intensity, or texture.
Neighboring regions are significantly different with respect to
the same characteristics.
There is no standard segmentation algorithm which can work

reasonably well for all images.

Introduction
Problem Definition
Methodology
Conclusion
Problem Definition
(a) Blood Image (b) Label Image
(c) Region 1 (d) Region 2 (e) Region 3 (f) Region 4

Introduction
Problem Definition
Methodology
Conclusion
Methodology
Image segmentation algorithms are developed based on two

basic properties of intensity values:
Discontinuity
Similarity
In discontinuity based approach the partition is carried out
based on some abrupt changes in gray level intensity of the
image.
Similarity based approach is based on grouping of pixels
based on some features.
Irrespective of the segmentation algorithm employed each

technique aims at achieving low inter class similarity and high intra
class similarity.

Introduction
Conclusion
Methods of Segmentation
Discontinuity based
Detection of Isolated Points
Detection of Lines
Edge Detection
Similarity based
Thresholding
Region growing
Region Splitting and Merging
Clustering
K–Means Clustering
Fuzzy C Means Clustering

Introduction
Conclusion
Measuring Discontinuity
There are three basic types of discontinuities

Points
Lines
Edge
Image discontinuities is mostly measured using a squared
mask.
The mask is moved over the entire image.

Introduction
Conclusion
The sum of products of the mask coefficients with the
corresponding image gray values is computed for each pixel.

Introduction
Conclusion
Considering a mask of size 3 × 3, the response of the mask at

each pixel is

9
R = w1 f1 + w2 f2 + w3 f3 + · · · + w9 f9 = wi fi
i =1
Where fi is the gray value of the pixel under the mask

coefficient wi .
High response of the mask indicates gray level discontinuity.

Introduction
Conclusion
Point, Line and Edge Detection
Edge pixels are pixels at which the intensity of an image

function changes abruptly.
Edges are set of connected edge pixels. An edge essentially
demarcates between two distinctly different regions.
Line may be embedded inside a single uniformly
homogeneous region.
An isolated point may be viewed as a line whose length and
width are equal to one pixel.

Introduction
Conclusion
Point Detection using Mask
Isolated points in an image are those points which have

abruptly different gray values than those of its surrounding
pixels.
A mask is utilized for point detection and involves highlighting
the gray value difference.
Response of such a mask is zero for a region with same gray
values for all pixels.
For central pixel with different gray value the response of the
mask is m times of the difference in gray values, where m is
the central weight of the mask.

Introduction
Conclusion

High response of the mask indicates a different central value
and the presence of an isolated point.
Selection of an isolated point can be formulated in terms of an
threshold T .
|R | > T
Points are detected at those pixels in the subsequent filtered
image above this threshold.
A 3 × 3 point detection mask can be represented as:

Introduction
Conclusion
(a) X-ray Image (b) Result point detection (c) Result Thresholding
Figure: Point Detection

Introduction
Conclusion
Line Detection using Mask
Straight line segments can be detected in an image using

specific masks.
Lines can be detected in a specified direction.
The masks below will extract lines that are one pixel thick and
running in a particular direction.
(a) Horizontal (b) +45 degree (c) Vertical (d) –45 degree
Figure: Line Detection Mask

Introduction
Conclusion
Line Detection using Mask
A high response of the mask indicates a presence of a line

segment.
(a) Wire Bond Image (b) Line detection (c) Result Thresholding
The mask whose response is higher will determine the

orientation of the line.
Introduction
Conclusion
Edge Detection
It is the most common approach for detection of gray level
discontinuity in an image.
Edge is a boundary between two regions having distinct
intensity levels.
Figure: Edge Detection in One Dimension
Large intensity difference between the 4th and 5th pixel

indicates an edge.
Introduction
Conclusion
Why Edge Detection is Interesting?
Edges preserve structural information of objects and

background.
A higher level of abstraction (less memory consumption).
Act as features independent from illumination variation.

Introduction
Conclusion
Edge Detection Techniques using Derivatives
Edge detection operation is essentially an operation to detect

significant local changes in the intensity level in an image.
The change in intensity level is measured by computing
derivative of the image.
First order and second order derivative or difference (discrete)
operators are commonly used for edge detection.

Introduction
Conclusion
Derivatives
Derivatives of a digital function are defined in terms of

differences.
The first order derivative at a point x of a one dimensional
function f (x ) can be approximated as
∂f
= f (x + 1) − f (x )
∂x
Second derivative about a point x can be expressed as
∂2 f
= f (x + 1) + f (x − 1) − 2f (x )
∂x 2

Introduction
Conclusion
Edge Detection using Derivatives

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0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
(a) Intensity
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0 5 10 15 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
(b) First Derivative (c) Second Derivative

Introduction
Conclusion

Introduction
Conclusion
The magnitude of both first and second derivative can be

used to detect the presence of edges.
For dark to light gray level transition the sign of the second
derivative goes from positive to negative.
While for light to dark transition the sign of the second
derivative goes from negative to positive.
Unlike first derivative the second derivative produces two
pulses per edge.
The second derivative is more sensitive to edges as well as to
noise.

Introduction
Conclusion
Applying Derivative Operators
The derivative operators can be applied under the following

heads:
First order detectors use gradient operator to compute the
first derivative.
Second order detectors employ laplacian operator for
computing second derivative.

Introduction
Conclusion
Gradient Operator
The first derivative can be computed using the derivative

operator. Considering a digital image f (x , y )
The gradient of the image can be defined as
∂f
f = Gx ∂x
∇ = ∂f
Gy ∂y
Magnitude of the gradient is given as
f)
∇f = mag (∇
1
= [Gx2 + Gy2 ] 2
≈ |Gx | + |Gy |

Introduction
Conclusion
Gradient Operator
f is
Direction of ∇

−1 Gy
α(x , y ) = tan (1)
Gx
f.
α(x , y ) provides the direction of ∇
f.
Edge direction is perpendicular to the direction of ∇

Introduction
Conclusion
Gradient Edge Detectors
Gradient based edge detectors are classified based on the

way they compute edge strength or gradient.
Prewitt Operator
Sobel Operator

Introduction
Conclusion
Prewitt Operator
Prewitt operator is a discrete differentiation operator, which
computes the gradient of the image intensity at each point
along with its orientation.
Two 3 × 3 kernels are convolved with the image to obtain the
derivatives for horizontal and vertical changes.
(a) Horizontal (b) Vertical
Figure: Prewitt Mask

Introduction
Conclusion
Sobel Operator
Sobel operator calculates the gradient of the image intensity
at each point.
Sobel operator uses two 3 × 3 kernels are convolved with the
image to obtain the derivatives for horizontal and vertical
changes.
(a) Horizontal (b) Vertical
Figure: Sobel Mask

Introduction
Conclusion
Laplacian Operator
Laplacian is the second derivative
Laplacian operator of f (x , y ) is
∂2 f ∂2 f
∇2 f = +
∂x 2 ∂y 2
Mask implementing second derivative operator is given as
(a) Horizontal-Vertical (b) All Directions
35/116 Figure: Laplacian Mask

Segmentation Image
Introduction
Conclusion
Laplacian Of Gaussian Operator
Laplacian operator is highly sensitive to noise.

Initial smoothing is required before applying laplacian operator
for edge detection.
Gaussian smoothing and laplacian detection is achieved
jointly using Laplacian Of Gaussian operator (LoG).

Introduction
Conclusion
Laplacian Of Gaussian Operator
(a) Gaussian Mask Two Dimension (b) Laplacian of Gauusian
Figure: Three Dimensional Plot of Gaussian and Laplacian of Gaussian

Introduction
Conclusion
Laplacian Of Gaussian Mask
(a) Laplacian of Gauusian (b) LoG Mask
Figure: Laplacian of Gaussian Mask

Introduction
Conclusion
Edge Detection Results
(a) Original (b) Sobel
(c) Prewitt (d) Canny (e) LoG

Introduction
Conclusion
Comparison (Gradient and Laplacian)
First order detectors are always preferable for edge detection.

Second order detectors are highly sensitive to noise, hence
seldom used for edge detection.
Double edge detection is also a demerit of second order
detectors.
Second order detectors are useful for extracting secondary
information.
Using the zero crossing information in second derivative the
exact location of the edge can be determined.

Introduction
Conclusion
Edge Linking
Due to non uniform illumination and noise the edges obtained

by edge detectors are not always connected.
Edge linking is performed to get connected edges.
Connected edges are achieved using two approaches.
Local Processing
Global Processing

Introduction
Conclusion
Limitations of Edge–Based Segmentation
Classical edge detectors produce spurious edges and gaps in

low quality images.
Edge detection techniques use local neighborhood
information of the image. They do not consider model based
information embedded in the image.
Edge linking process sometimes leads to discontinuities and
gaps in the image.
Edge linking methods often resort to arbitrary interpolation in
order to complete boundary gaps.

Introduction
Conclusion
It is based on grouping the pixels in the image based on

certain similar feature or attribute.
The features can be intensity, color, texture etc.
Similarity based methods can be classified as:
Thresholding
Region Growing
Clustering

Introduction
Conclusion
Thresholding
Thresholding is a technique for converting a gray scale or

color image to a binary image based upon a threshold value.
Image thresholding is very useful for object extraction and
background rejection.
Belongingness of each pixel to object or background is
decided on the basis of a particular threshold.
Accurate estimation of the threshold is essential for proper
segmentation and object extraction successively.

Introduction
Conclusion
Thresholding Example
(a) Original (b) Thresholded
(c) Low Threshold (d) High Threshold

Introduction
Conclusion
Image Histogram
Image histogram describes the frequency of the intensity
values that occur in an image.
Histogram can be very efficiently used for determining the
threshold for image segmentation.
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Pixel Count
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0 50 100 150 200 255

Gray Levels
(a) Original Image (b) Histogram

Introduction
Conclusion
Bimodal Histogram

Introduction
Conclusion
Bimodal Histogram
Ideal bimodal histogram consists of peaks corresponding to

the object and background regions and a valley in between.
The object and background of images with bimodal histogram
form two different groups with distinct gray levels.
Bi–level thresholding is employed for such images.
So a threshold T has to be selected from the valley region for
segmenting the image.

Introduction
Conclusion
Bi–level Thresholding
A single threshold is enough for segmenting an image with

bimodal histogram and is called bi–level thresholding.
For an image f (x , y ) with an bright object and dark
background, the binary segmented image can be
mathematically represented as

1 if f (x , y ) ≥ T ⇒ Object
g (x , y ) =
0 if f (x , y ) < T ⇒ Background
Every pixel intensity value has to be compared with the

threshold T to classify each pixel as a background or an
object pixel.

Introduction
Conclusion
Bi–level Thresholding Results
(a) Original Image (b) Segmented Image
Figure: Bi–level Thresholding

Introduction
Conclusion
Multimodal Histogram

Introduction
Conclusion
Multimodal Histogram
Images with multimodal histogram have disjoint objects and

there gray levels are clearly distinct from the background.
Each peak of the multimodal histogram is distinctly separate
from the other.
For segmenting such images the valleys between the peaks
are chosen as the threshold values.
The total number of thresholds required for segmentation are
N − 1, where N is the number of peaks in the histogram.
Each pixel has to be categorized into a particular region
depending upon the threshold region it belongs to.

Introduction
Conclusion
Multimodal Thresholding
Images with multimodal histogram requires multiple

thresholds for partitioning an image into different segments.
Thresholding for a Multimodal Histogram can be
mathematically represented as
f(x, y) > T2 ⇒ (x, y) ∈ R2
f(x, y) ≤ T2 ⇒ (x, y) ∈ R1
f(x, y) < T1 ⇒ (x, y) ∈ Background

There may be image histograms with more than three peaks.

Introduction
Conclusion
Thresholding Selection
Selection of proper threshold is essential for every threshold

based segmentation technique.
This threshold value of the thresholding operation can be
considered as an operation that invokes testing against a
function T where this function T is of the form
T = T[(x, y), p(x, y), f(x, y)]
where,
(x,y) ⇒ Pixel Location
p(x,y) ⇒ Local property in a neighborhood centered at (x , y ).
f(x,y) ⇒ Pixel intensity at (x , y ).

Introduction
Conclusion
So in general this threshold T can be a function of pixel

Location, local property within the neighborhood and pixel
intensity value.
Threshold T can be a function of any combination of the
above three terms.
Depending on this combination the threshold T can be
classified as
Global Threshold
Local Threshold
Adaptive Threshold

Introduction
Conclusion
If the threshold T is only a function of pixel intensity value

f (x , y ). Then T is termed as global threshold.
T [f(x, y)] ⇒ GlobalThreshold
Threshold T is termed as local threshold if T is a function of

pixel intensity value and local property.
T[f(x, y), p(x, y)] ⇒ LocalThreshold
If the threshold is a function of all the three properties then T

is termed as adaptive threshold.
T[(x, y), f(x, y), p(x, y)] ⇒ AdaptiveThreshold

Introduction
Conclusion
Thresholded Image
Using this threshold T we want to get a thresholded binary

image g (x , y ) defined as

1 if f (x , y ) ≥ T ⇒ Object
g (x , y ) =
0 if f (x , y ) < T ⇒ Background
This threshold T can be global, local or adaptive.

Introduction
Conclusion
Threshold Estimation
The threshold T can be estimated by

Histogram based thresholding (Visual Inspection)
Automatic thresholding
For completely unsupervised machine vision applications
visual inspection of histogram for threshold estimation is
impossible.
Thus threshold has to be estimated automatically from the
given image for unsupervised image segmentation.

Introduction
Conclusion
Histogram Based Threshold Estimation
Considering a image with bimodal histogram.
By visually inspecting the histogram we can select a threshold

from the deep valley region.
Using this threshold we can obtain a segmented image.
Introduction
Conclusion
Histogram Based Thresholding Results
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(a) Original Image (b) Histogram (c) Segmented
Figure: Histogram Based Thresholding

Introduction
Conclusion
Automatic Thresholding
Threshold estimation by visual inspection is unlikely in

machine vision applications.
So a automatic process has to be followed for threshold
estimation.
This is achieved using an iterative process.

Introduction
Conclusion
Algorithm
1 Select an initial value of threshold T .

Introduction
Conclusion
Algorithm
2 Use T to segment the image into two groups G1 &G2

Introduction
Conclusion
Algorithm
3 Compute the mean µ1 and µ2 for each group of pixels.

Introduction
Conclusion
Algorithm
4 Compute the new updated threshold T using the relation

Introduction
Conclusion
Algorithm
4 Compute the new updated threshold T using the relation
µ1 + µ2
T=
2
5 Repeat step 2-4 until
Ti − Ti +1 ≤ Th
Introduction
Conclusion
Global Threshold
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Introduction
Conclusion
Global Threshold
The threshold which have been selected does not consider

pixel location and local neighborhood property.
Threshold considered here is global as we use one particular
threshold for segmenting the entire image.
So we call it as global thresholding operation.
Global thresholding is only applicable for images with uniform
illumination.

Introduction
Conclusion
Dealing with Illumination

Introduction
Conclusion
Illumination Effects on Thresholding

Introduction
Conclusion
Thresholding for Poor Illumination Images
Global thresholding fails for images with poor illumination.

Valley is not well defined for such images in the image
histogram.
One approach for dealing with poor illumination is
Subdivide the image into number of smaller sub images.
Assuming that illumination will be roughly uniform for each of
the sub images.
So for each sub image we can have a threshold and segment
each sub image.
Combination of all the sub images will give the final segmented
image.
Since the threshold selection here is position dependent so
the threshold here is adaptive threshold.

Introduction
Conclusion
Thresholding for Poor Illumination Images

Introduction
Conclusion
Optimal Thresholding
Thresholding methods which consider accuracy of the

thresholding or try to minimize threshold error.
Statistical property of the image is used to minimize the mean
error during thresholding.
The histogram of an image is approximated using a weighted
sum of two or more probability densities with normal
distribution.
The threshold is set as the closest gray level corresponding to
the minimum probability between the maxima of two or more
normal distributions.
Such thresholding results with minimum error segmentation
or optimal thresholding.

Introduction
Conclusion
Assuming there are two intensity regions in the image i.e.

object and background.
If we assume that intensity variables can be modeled as
random variables.
Say this random variable be represented as z
The normalized histogram of this image can be viewed as a
probability density function p (z ) of this random variable z .
As per our assumption the image contains two regions we will
have a bimodal histogram.

Introduction
Conclusion

Introduction
Conclusion
The histogram is assumed to be a probability density function

of the intensity variable z .
So the bimodal histogram is a combination of two probability
density functions (PDF) i.e. p1 (z ) and p2 (z ).
p1 (z ) is the probability density function of the intensities of the
pixels belonging to background.
p2 (z ) is the probability density function of the intensities of the
pixels belonging to object.

Introduction
Conclusion
Overall histogram p (z ) can be represented by the

combination of p1 (z ) and p2 (z ).
p (z ) can be mathematically denoted as,
p (z ) = P1 p1 (z ) + P2 p2 (z )
where,
P1 indicates the probability that a pixel will belong to the
background.
P2 indicates the probability that a pixel will belong to the
object.
Sum of both the probabilities will be unity.
P1 + P2 = 1

Introduction
Conclusion
The objective is to determine the threshold T which will

minimize average segmentation error.
Since the over all probability is modeled as combination of two
different probabilities.

Introduction
Conclusion
Considering a threshold T for image segmentation
f (x , y ) > T ⇒ Object
Pixels beyond T with intensity f (x , y ) also have a finite
probability that it may belong to the background.

Introduction
Conclusion
Thus while selecting this threshold we incorporate some error.

This error can be like
The error probability that a object pixel will be classified as an
background pixel and can be defined as
T
E1 (T ) = p2 (z )dz
−∞
The error probability that a background pixel may be classified

as an object and can be formulated as
∞
E2 (T ) = p1 (z )dz
T

Introduction
Conclusion
The overall error probability is given as
E (T ) = P2 E1 (T ) + P1 E2 (T )
For minimizing this error we will take derivative of E (t ) and
equate to zero.
∂E (T )
=0
∂T
Under this condition what ever T we get will give us minimum
error.
P1 p1 (T ) = P2 p2 (T )

Introduction
Conclusion
Solution of this equation gives the value of T , provided we

know the PDF of p1 (T ) and p2 (T ).
Assuming Gaussian PDF and using the above equation we
get the solution of T as
(µ1 + µ2 ) σ2 P2
T= + ln( )
2 µ1 − µ2 P1
Using this threshold we can have minimum number of

background pixels classified as object pixels and minimum
number of object pixels classified as background pixels.
The threshold here is optimal because this gives minimal
average segmentation error.

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding
Threshold selection is easier if the histogram of an image is:
Bimodal and modes are tall, narrow and separated by a deep
valley.
If the modes are symmetric.
In such type of histogram threshold can be obtained from the

valley region and the image can be segmented.
Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding
Considering an image where a very small number of pixels

represent a object and large number of pixels represent the
back ground.

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding
For such image the contribution to the histogram by the object

pixels is almost negligible as the number of pixels representing
object region is very less in comparison to background region.
Bimodal nature of the histogram is not very well defined and it
is rather a unimodal histogram with major contribution from
background pixels.
Determination of threshold is an issue as the valley is not well
defined.

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding
Instead of considering all the pixels for generating the

histogram, pixels on the boundary and near the boundary can
only be considered.
The objective is to identify the pixels in a narrow strip around
the boundary. and this pixels around the boundary will be
considered for histogram generation.
Considered these pixels for histogram generation the number
of pixels contributing to the object region and the background
region will be approximately same.

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding
Advantages
Thus the histogram will be symmetric.
Histogram will be independent of relative size of object and
background region.
The probability of a pixel belonging to object and the
probability of a pixel belonging to background within the
narrow strip is almost same.
Thresholding such an histogram will be easier.

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding
Determining the pixels on the boundary or around the

boundary is essential for the above segmentation approach.
But the boundary between object and background is unknown
so the above approach is not applicable.
As a solution to the above is use of image gradient and
laplacian for obtaining the boundary pixels and pixels near the
boundary.

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding
The gradient operator output is used to determine the position

of the edge points.
The pixels which are lying on the boundary or near the
boundary the gradient magnitude will be high.
The output of the laplacian operator is used to determine
whether a pixel is lying on the darker side of the edge point or
lighter side of the edge point.
The laplacian output is negative if a pixel lies on the bright
side of the edge and the laplacian will be positive if a pixel lies
on the dark side of the edge.

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding
Using f (x , y ), |∇f |, |∇2 f | an intermediate segmented image can

be obtained
⎧
⎪
⎪
⎪ 0 if ∇f < T
⎨
s (x , y ) = ⎪
⎪ + if ∇f ≥ T and∇2 f ≥ 0
⎪
⎩ − if ∇f ≥ T and∇2 f < 0
Each value of s (x , y ) provides certain amount of information

⎧
⎪
⎪
⎪ 0 → Pixel does not belong to the boundary
⎨
s (x , y ) = ⎪
⎪ + → Pixel belong to the object region
⎪
⎩ − → Pixel belong to the boundary region

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding
The final segmented image is obtained from the intermediate

image consisting of 0, +, −.
Transition from one region to other can be detected using this
symbols.
−, + → Transition from background to object.
+, − → Transition from object to background.
Final segmented binary image is obtained after scanning the
entire image and assigning the pixels of the background
region as 1 and to the object as 0.
The thresholding here is local because we use gradient and
laplacian of the image to obtain the threshold which is a local
property.

Introduction
Conclusion
Local Thresholding

Introduction
Conclusion
Region Based Segmentation
Homogeneity property of the image regions are used as the

segmentation criterion.
The concept is to maximize homogeneity in each segmented
regions.
Homogeneity criteria can be based on gray level, color,
texture.
Selection of proper homogeneity criteria is most important
and influence segmentation performance.
Region based image segmentation can be classified as
Region Growing

Introduction
Conclusion
Region Definition
Considering all the pixels in an image as a set of pixels as R
The segmentation operation partitions the set of pixels R to
number of subregions say R1 , R2 , . . . Rn .
During partitioning certain properties are followed i.e.
n
R = R,
1 i
i=
Ri Rj = ∅ for i j,
P (Ri ) = TRUE for i=1,2,. . . , n

P (Ri Rj ) = FALSE for i j,
Where P (Ri ) is a predicate defined in terms of feature values
over region Ri .
All the pixels belonging to a particular region must be similar
and pixels belonging to two different region are dissimilar.
Regions must be connected, disjoint and homogeneous in
nature.
Introduction
Conclusion
Region Growing
It is a procedure which groups the pixels or subregions into
larger region based on a defined predicate.
After selecting a set of points (seed) in the image, the
operation tries to grow the region staring from the seed point
incorporating all the points similar to the seed point.
Two points can be said similar if there intensity values are
very close.

Introduction
Conclusion
Region Growing Process
A seed pixel is selected from the image and is assigned a

label.
Each of the neighbor pixels are labeled recursively using a
similarity measure or a homogeneity property.
When no more pixels can be labeled with the same label, the
first region is found.
Then another seed pixel is selected out of the yet to label
pixels and then same labeling process is followed.
The entire process is repeated until no more pixels remain
unlabeled.
The concepts of 4–connected or 8–connected pixel windows
is usually considered.
Introduction
Conclusion
Homogeneity Measure
Homogeneity property is to be satisfied by the gray levels of
pixels lying within a region.
The gray level variance of the pixels can be a metric for
homogeneity measurement and can be defined as
1 2
MH (R ) = f (x , y ) − f̄ (x , y ) ≤ T
|R |
(x ,y )∈R
where, |R | represents the size of region R in number of pixels
and T is the threshold. f̄ is the average gray value within R .
Another homogeneity property for a small range of gray levels
of pixels lying in a region can be defined as
max − min ≤ T
g (r ,c )∈R g (r ,c )∈R

Introduction
Conclusion
Region Growing Results

Introduction
Conclusion
Demerits of Region Growing
Requires large execution time.

Selection of suitable property to be satisfied.
Selection of seed points.

Introduction
Conclusion
Region Splitting
Homogeneity property is tested over a rectangular region.

If the features do not satisfy the property the image region is
divided into four equal quadrants.
If the property is satisfied the region is left as it is.
The steps are repeated until all the regions satisfy the
property.
Use the quad tree data structure.

Introduction
Conclusion
Region Splitting Example

Introduction
Conclusion
Quad Tree

Introduction
Conclusion
Region Merging
It is exactly opposite to the splitting process.

Each pixel is considered as a distinct region.
At each level of merging homogeneity property is checked for
four adjacent regions.
If the condition is satisfied then the regions are merged into a
single homogeneous region else it is left as it is.
Above steps are repeated until no more regions are left for
merging.
A quad tree can be formed with the image as the root node
and each leaf node represents a rectangular homogeneous
region.

Introduction
Conclusion
Region Merging Example

Introduction
Conclusion
Region splitting and merging operation can be performed

simultaneously within a same algorithm.
This algorithm is a hybrid of the split and merge process and
starts somewhere in the middle of the quad tree.
Starting with a rectangular region of size m × m. pixels.
Each region homogeneity is tested.
If the test fails the region is split into four quadrants of size
m m
2 × 2.
If the region satisfies the homogeneity then merging process
is followed to form a region of size (2m) × (2m).
The process stops when no more split or merge is possible.

Introduction
Conclusion
Clustering based image segmentation is the process of

assigning a label to every pixel in an image such that pixels
with the same label share certain visual characteristics.
Cluster oriented segmentation uses the multidimensional data
to partition the image pixels into clusters.
Cluster-oriented techniques may be more appropriate than
histogram-oriented ones in segmenting images, where each
pixel has several attributes and is represented by a vector.

Introduction
Conclusion
In cost minimization clustering techniques, each clustering

configuration is assigned a value or cost to measure its
goodness.
An appropriate cost function measures the goodness of a
cluster.
The cost for a cluster configuration is its squared error, i.e.,
the sum of squared Euclidean distances of each point to its
cluster center.
Clustering methods which can be applied to image
segmentation problem are:
K-means clustering
Fuzzy C-means clustering (FCM)

Introduction
Conclusion
K- means clustering
K-Means algorithm is an unsupervised clustering algorithm

that classifies the input data points into multiple classes based
on their inherent distance from each other.
Algorithm:
1 Assign initial means v i (centroid)
2 Assign each data pattern (point) Xk to the cluster Ui for the
closest mean.
3 New updated centroid

Xk ∈Ui Xk
vi = , (2)
| Ci |
4 Repeat step 2 and 3 until the updated centroid become stable.

Introduction
Conclusion
Fuzzy c-means clustering

FCM is a soft version of K-means, where each data point has
a fuzzy degree of belonging to each cluster.
Algorithm:
1 Assign initial means v i , Choose values for fuzzifier m
and
threshold . Set the iteration counter t = 1[8].
2 Repeat Steps 3 and 4, by incrementing t , until
|µik (t ) − µik (t − 1)| > tmax .
3 Compute µik for c clusters and N data patterns.
1
µik = d m2−1 (3)
c ik
j =1 djk
4 Update means using

N m
k =1 (µik ) Xk
vi = N
, (4)
m
k =1 (µik )

Introduction
Conclusion
Clustering Based Image Segmentation Results
Figure: K- Means Clustering Scatter Plot

Introduction
Conclusion
Clustering Based Image Segmentation Results
(a) Region 1 (b) Region 2 (c) Region 3 (d) Region 4
Figure: K-Means
(a) Region 1 (b) Region 2 (c) Region 3 (d) Region 4
Figure: Fuzzy c-Means

Introduction
Conclusion
Evaluation of Image Segmentation Algorithms
Image segmentation and its performance evaluation are very

difficult problems in computer vision.
The criteria of a good segmentation are often application
dependent and hard to explicitly define.
Some researchers feel it is impossible .

Introduction
Conclusion
Evaluation of Image Segmentation Algorithms

Introduction
Conclusion
Subjective Evaluation
Evaluation methods that require user assistance are known

as subjective evaluation or supervised evaluation.
Evaluation is performed by comparing the resulting
segmented image against a manually-segmented reference
image referred as gold standard.

Introduction
Conclusion
Subjective Evaluation
(a) Cell 1 (b) Ground Truth (c) Cell 2 (d) Ground Truth
Total number of misclassified pixels

ε=
Total number of pixels in a region

Introduction
Conclusion
Objective Evaluation
Unsupervised evaluation does not require comparison with a

manually-segmented reference image, it is quantitative and
objective.
Creating a reference image is tedious and time-consuming,
and for many real time applications, it is hard or maybe even
impossible.
Objective evaluation is suitable for on line image
segmentation in real-time systems.

Introduction
Conclusion
Color based segmentation techniques are broadly classified

as:
Feature space based techniques
Color based clustering
Histogram
Image domain based techniques
Split and merge
Region growing
Physics based techniques
Dichromatic reflection model
Unichromatic reflection model

Introduction
Conclusion
Conclusion
Image segmentation is an essential preliminary step in most

automatic pictorial pattern recognition and scene analysis
applications.
There is no universal algorithm or segmentation technique for
all kind of images.
Specific methods have to be developed for segmenting
particular kind of images.
None of the segmentation evaluation measure are perfect.

Introduction
Conclusion
Important References I
1 Anil K. Jain.
Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing.
Prentice-Hall of India, 1989.
2 Rafael Gonzalez and Richard Woods.

Digital Image Processing.
Addison Wesley, 1992.

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Introduction

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4 Color Image Segmentation

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Digital Image & Digital Image Processing

When spatial coordinates and amplitude values are all finite,

Processing of such images by digital computers is called

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What is Image Segmentation?

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Necessity of Image Segmentation

Image segmentation is a prerequisite for most of the machine

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Figure: Original Image

Figure: Segmented Image

Figure: MRI Image Segmentation

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Segmentation can be considered as a pixel labeling problem.

There is no standard segmentation algorithm which can work

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(a) Blood Image (b) Label Image

(c) Region 1 (d) Region 2 (e) Region 3 (f) Region 4

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Image segmentation algorithms are developed based on two

Irrespective of the segmentation algorithm employed each

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There are three basic types of discontinuities

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Considering a mask of size 3 × 3, the response of the mask at

Where fi is the gray value of the pixel under the mask

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Point, Line and Edge Detection

Edge pixels are pixels at which the intensity of an image

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Point Detection using Mask

Isolated points in an image are those points which have

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Point Detection using Mask

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Point Detection using Mask

Figure: Point Detection

Line Detection using Mask

Straight line segments can be detected in an image using

Figure: Line Detection Mask

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Line Detection using Mask

A high response of the mask indicates a presence of a line

The mask whose response is higher will determine the

Figure: Edge Detection in One Dimension

Large intensity difference between the 4th and 5th pixel

Why Edge Detection is Interesting?

Edges preserve structural information of objects and

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Edge Detection Techniques using Derivatives

Edge detection operation is essentially an operation to detect

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Derivatives of a digital function are defined in terms of

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Edge Detection using Derivatives

(b) First Derivative (c) Second Derivative