Thinning

Algorithms
Thick images
Thin images
Color images
Character Recognition (OCR)
 Thinning of thick binary images

Thinning: from many pixels width to

just one
• Much work has been done on the thinning of
``thick'' binary images,

• where attempts are made to reduce shape outlines

which are many pixels thick to outlines which are
only one pixel thick.
• Skeletonization
 Thinning using Zhang and Suen
algorithm [1984].) (b) is slightly
increased
Point just image
removed 8 7

26
25

results of the first pass results of the second pass final results
Example of Thinning algorithm from
Zhang and Suen 1984
 Example 1 of Rules for Thinning
Algorithm
Rule 1 All four rules can
be illustrated like
that

Old one Don’t New and

care old one

Rule 1 Rule 2 Rule 3 Rule 4

Applying thinning to fault
detection in PCB
All lines are thinned to one pixel width
Now you can check connectivity
 Thinning Algorithm
Correct background shows
image desired shape of letter T

• Thinning
algorithm is
sensitive to
corrupted
image
segments
Noise leads to
lack of
connectivity.
BAD
 Thinning
applied after
Edge Detection
 Thinning of thin binary images

Rules of binary thinning

• We will present the rules used for the ``binary
thinning'' which is applied to the edge images
(found using the edge detector).

• The rules are simple and quick to carry out,

requiring only one pass through the image.
 The SUSAN Thinning Algorithm
• It follows a few simple rules
– remove spurious or unwanted edge points
– add in edge points where they should be
reported but have not been.
• The rules fall into three categories;
– removing spurious or unwanted edge points
– adding new edge points
– shifting edge points to new positions.

• Note that the new edge

points will only be created
if the edge response allows
this.

These all can be called “local improving” rules

 The SUSAN Thinning Algorithm
• The rules are listed 0 neighbors

according to the
number of edge 1 neighbor

point neighbours 2 neighbors

which an edge 2 neighbors

point has (in the

eight pixel
neighbourhood) 3 neighbors

Discuss size of
window and
direction of
movement
 The SUSAN Thinning Algorithm
• 0 neighbors.
– Remove the edge point.
• 1 neighbor.
– Search for the neighbor with the maximum (non-zero) edge response, to continue the edge, and to
fill in gaps in edges.
• The responses used are those found by the initial stage of the SUSAN edge detector, before non-maximum
suppression.
• They are slightly weighted according to the existing edge orientation so that the edge will prefer to continue
in a straight line.
• An edge can be extended by a maximum of three pixels.

Filling gaps by
adding new edge
points
 The SUSAN Thinning Algorithm
• 2 neighbours. “Edge response” is a
measure of neighborhood
– There are three possible cases:
• 1. If the point is ``sticking out'' of an otherwise straight line, then compare its edge response to
that of the corresponding point within the line.
– If the potential point within the straight edge has an edge response greater than 0.7 of the current point's
response, move the current point into line with the edge.
• 2. If the point is adjoining a diagonal edge then remove it.
• 3. Otherwise, the point is a valid edge point.
My point
has two
neighbors

My point
has two
neighbors
 The SUSAN Thinning Algorithm
• More than 2 neighbours.
– If the point is not a link between multiple edges
then thin the edge.

• This will involve a choice between the current point

and one of its neighbours.

• If this choice is made in a logical consistent way then

a ``clean'' looking thinned edge will result.
 The SUSAN Thinning Algorithm

How rules are applied?

• These rules are applied to every pixel in the image
sequentially left to right and top to bottom.

– If a change is made to the edge image then the current

search point is moved backwards up to two pixels
leftwards and upwards.

– This means that iterative alterations to the image can be

achieved using only one pass of the algorithm.
Thinning can remove certain types of
lines from the image
 Correct and Incorrect Thinning Examples
• X correct
• V misread as Y
• 8 has noise added and not removed, wrong semantic network will be created
Good thinning examples
• Here every symbol correctly thinned
Another set ofThinning Rules Algorithm
Rules for Thinning
• Examples of rules
for shifting up and Old new
down algorithm Down rules and
new

Up rules
Tracing Direction
Tracing direction
from left to right
• Notation for points in window
• Rules based on point replacements
Tracing Direction

This pixed
changed to
white
Example of bad thinning
• We would like to have one pixel width
everywhere
Thinning algorithm for
images from polygons
Typical errors of thinning algorithms
Gradient based thinning
 Encoding
shapes after
thinning
 Encoding to discrete angles
• Image after thinning
Use of angles in encoding
 Replacement of
blocks with
points

Select the Coding in 8

closest
point directions

Also, coding in 4 directions

or more directions
 Polygon Approximation -Encoding
We start with the
• Two Methods are used: set of rectangles
– Included objects with points inside
– Minimal objects

• Included objects Line

Segments
make
minimum
change to
the line
• (a) original figure, (b) computation of distances,
(c) connection of vertices, (d) resultant polygon
start

Draw
Method of minimal straight
objects angles
 Encoding of figures
• (a) completion of a figure
• (b) partitioning to segments
 Problems
• 1. Write a program for thinning with your
own set of rules, that transform a kernel (3
by 3 or larger) to a point
• 2. Write a program for thinning that
replaces rectangle to rectangle according to
one of sorted rules, about 10 rules.
• 3. Compare with Zhang and Suen algorithm
on images from FAB building interiors
 More Problems to solve
• The slides describe the rules used for the ``binary thinning''
which is applied to the edge images (found using the
SUSAN edge detector - see [9,8]) after non-maximum
suppression has taken place. The rules are simple and quick
to carry out, requiring only one pass through the image.
Similar text originally appeared in Appendix B of [7].
• Write LISP program with the code of this edge detector and
check it on similar images.
• For examples and reviews of work on ``skeletonization'' see
[6,4,1,2,5]. Implement any of these programs in LISP.
Parametrize it.
 Introduction
• Much work has been done on the thinning of
``thick'' binary images, where attempts are made to
reduce shape outlines which are many pixels thick
to outlines which are only one pixel thick.
• However, because of the non-maximum suppression
which is applied before thinning in edge detectors
such as SUSAN, this kind of approach is not
necessary.
 Literature
• 1 R.M. Haralick. Performance characterization in image analysis:
Thinning, a case in point. Pattern Recognition Letters, 13:5--12, 1992.
• 2 P. Kumar, D. Bhatnagar, and P.S. Umapathi Rao. Pseudo one pass
thinning algorithm. Pattern Recognition Letters, 12:543--555, 1991.
• 3 O. Monga, R. Deriche, G. Malandain, and J.P. Cocquerez.
Recursive filtering and edge tracking: Two primary tools for 3D edge
detection. Image and Vision Computing, 9(4):203--214, 1991.
• 4 J.A. Noble. Descriptions of Image Surfaces. D.Phil. thesis, Robotics
Research Group, Department of Engineering Science, Oxford
University, 1989.
• 5 M. Otte and H.-H. Nagel. Extraction of line drawings from gray
value images by non-local analysis of edge element structures. In
Proc. 2nd European Conf. on Computer Vision, pages 687--695.
Springer-Verlag, 1992.
 Literature
• 6 S. Pal. Some Low Level Image Segmentation Methods, Algorithms
and their Analysis. PhD thesis, Indian Institute of Technology, 1991.
• 7 S.M. Smith. Feature Based Image Sequence Understanding. D.Phil.
thesis, Robotics Research Group, Department of Engineering Science,
Oxford University, 1992.
• 8 S.M. Smith. SUSAN -- a new approach to low level image
processing. Internal Technical Report TR95SMS1, Defence Research
Agency, Chobham Lane, Chertsey, Surrey, UK, 1995. Available at
www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~steve for downloading.
• 9 S.M. Smith and J.M. Brady. SUSAN - a new approach to low level
image processing. Int. Journal of Computer Vision, 23(1):45--78, May

1997.