Euclidean skeletons of 3D data sets in linear time by the integer medial axis transform.
Wim H. Hesselink, Menno Visser and Jos B. T. M. Roerdink. Euclidean skeletons of 3D data sets in linear time by the integer medial axis transform. In: Mathematical Morphology: 40 Years On (Proc. 7th Intern. Symp. on Mathematical Morphology, April 18-20), C. Ronse, L. Najman and E. Decencière (eds.), 2005, Springer, pp. 259-268.A general algorithm for computing Euclidean skeletons of 3D data sets in linear time is presented. These skeletons are defined in terms of a new concept, called the integer medial axis (IMA) transform. The algorithm is based upon the computation of 3D feature transforms, using a modification of an algorithm for Euclidean distance transforms. The skeletonization algorithm has a time complexity which is linear in the amount of voxels, and can be easily parallelized. The relation of the IMA skeleton to the usual definition in terms of centers of maximal disks is discussed.
Download in pdf format© Springer. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the publisher.
This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.