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Lecture 11

Digital Image Processing

Morphological Image Processing

Bibliography:
Dublin Institute of Technology, Image Processing – Morphology
Utah University, CS 4640: Image Processing Basics, Lecture 11
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Contents
Once segmentation is complete,
morphological operations can be used to
remove imperfections in the segmented
image and provide information on the form
and structure of the image.
In this lecture we will consider:
– What is morphology?;
– Simple morphological operations;
– Compound operations;
– Morphological algorithms.
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1, 0, Black, White?
Throughout all of the following slides
whether 0 and 1 refer to white or black is a
little interchangeable.
All of the discussion that follows
assumes segmentation has already taken
place and that images are made up of 0s for
background pixels and 1s for object pixels.
After this it doesn’t matter if 0 is black, white,
yellow, green…….
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Pixel Neighborhoods
Remember the two definitions of “neighbors”
that we have discussed:

4 Neighborhood 8 Neighborhood
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What is Morphology?
Morphological image processing (or
morphology) describes a range of image
processing techniques that deal with the
shape (or morphology) of features in an
image.
Morphological operations are typically
applied to remove imperfections introduced
during segmentation, and so typically
operate on bi-level images.
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Quick Example
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Image after segmentation Image after segmentation and

morphological processing
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Structuring Elements, Hits & Fits

B Structuring Element

Fit: All on pixels in the

structuring element cover
on pixels in the image.
A
Hit: Any on pixel in the
C structuring element covers
an on pixel in the image.

All morphological processing operations are based

on these simple ideas.
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Structuring Element
Definition: A structuring element is simply
a binary image (or mask) that allows us to
define arbitrary neighborhood structures.

Example:

This is the structuring element for the 4-

neighborhood.
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Structuring Elements
Structuring elements can be any size and make
any shape.
However, for simplicity we will use rectangular
structuring elements with their origin at the middle
pixel (left: 8-neighborhood; center: 4-
neighborhood)
0 0 1 0 0
1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
0 0 1 0 0
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Fitting & Hitting

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1
0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1
0 0 1 B
1 1 1 1 0 C
0 0 0 0
1 1 1
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 Structuring
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 Element 1

0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1
0 0 1 1 1 1 1 A
1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Structuring
Element 2
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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Fundamental Operations
Fundamentally morphological image
processing is very like spatial filtering.
The structuring element is moved across
every pixel in the original image to give a
pixel in a new processed image.
The value of this new pixel depends on the
operation performed.
There are two basic morphological
operations: erosion and dilation.
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Erosion
Erosion of image f by structuring element s
is given by f  s.
The structuring element s is positioned with
its origin at (x, y) and the new pixel value is
determined using the rule:
 1 if s fits f
g ( x, y ) = 
0 otherwise
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Erosion Example
Original Image Processed Image With Eroded Pixels

Structuring Element
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Erosion Example
Original Image Processed Image

Structuring Element
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Erosion Example 1

Original image Erosion by 3*3 Erosion by 5*5

square structuring square structuring
element element

Watch out: In these examples a 1 refers to a black pixel!

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Erosion Example 2
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

After erosion
Original
with a disc of
image
radius 10

After erosion After erosion

with a disc of with a disc of
radius 5 radius 20
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What is Erosion for?
• Erosion can split apart joined objects

Erosion can split apart

• Erosion can strip away extrusions

Watch out: Erosion shrinks objects.

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Dilation
Dilation of image f by structuring element s is
given by f ⊕ s.
The structuring element s is positioned with
its origin at (x, y) and the new pixel value is
determined using the rule:
1 if s hits f
g ( x, y ) = 
0 otherwise
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Dilation Example
Original Image Processed Image

Structuring Element
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Dilation Example
Original Image Processed Image With Dilated Pixels

Structuring Element
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Dilation Example 1

Original image Dilation by 3*3 Dilation by 5*5

square structuring square structuring
element element

Watch out: In these examples a 1 refers to a black pixel!

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Dilation Example 2
Original image After dilation
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Structuring element
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What is Dilation for?
Dilation can repair breaks

Dilation can repair intrusions

Watch out: Dilation enlarges objects.

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Compound Operations
More interesting morphological operations
can be performed by performing
combinations of erosions and dilations.
The most widely used of these compound
operations are:
– Opening;
– Closing.
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Opening
The opening of image f by structuring
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

element s, denoted f ○ s is simply an erosion

followed by a dilation
f ○ s = (f s) ⊕ s

Original shape After erosion After dilation

(opening)

Note a disc shaped structuring element is used.

Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

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After
Opening
Image
Image
Original
Opening Example
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Opening Example
Original Image Processed Image

Structuring Element
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Opening Example
Original Image Processed Image

Structuring Element
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Opening
Conclusions:
• Opening operation is an erosion followed
by a dilation.
• Stray foreground structures that are
smaller than the structuring element will
disappear.
• Larger structures will remain.
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Closing
The closing of image f by structuring
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

element s, denoted f • s is simply a dilation

followed by an erosion
f • s = (f ⊕ s)s

Original shape After dilation After erosion

(closing)

Note a disc shaped structuring element is used.

Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

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After
Closing
Image
Image
Original
Closing Example
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Closing Example
Original Image Processed Image

Structuring Element
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Closing Example
Original Image Processed Image

Structuring Element
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Closing
Conclusions:
• Closing operation is a dilation followed by
an erosion.
• Holes in the foreground that are smaller
than the structuring element will be filled.
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Opening and Closing Example
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Opening and Closing Example
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Opening and Closing Example
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

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Morphological Processing Example
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Morphological Algorithms
Using the simple technique we have looked at so far we
can begin to consider some more interesting morphological
algorithms.
We will look at:
– Boundary extraction;
– Region filling.
There are lots of others as well though:
– Extraction of connected components,
– Thinning/thickening,
– Skeletonisation,
– Morphological smoothing,
– Morphological gradient, …
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Boundary Extraction
Extracting the boundary (or outline) of an
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

object is often extremely useful.

1. The boundary can be given simply as
β(A) = A – (AB)
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Boundary Extraction Example
A simple image and the result of performing
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

boundary extraction using a square 3*3

structuring element:

Original Image Extracted Boundary

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Boundary Extraction (Outline)
2. Other methods for boundary extraction
The boundary extraction (outline) can be obtained by:
 a dilation followed by a subtraction:

Obs. The boundary is located in the exterior side of the edges!

 a XOR operation between the erosion of image and the original image

Obs. The boundary is located on the edges, so it is better the previous method!
In the following example the XOR operation is implemented by the intersection
between the original image and the complement of the result after the erosion.
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Boundary Extraction - Example
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Boundary Extraction - Example
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Region Filling
Given a pixel inside a boundary, region
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

filling attempts to fill that boundary with

object pixels (1s)

Given a point inside

here, can we fill the
whole circle?
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Region Filling (cont…)
The key equation for region filling is
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

X k = ( X k −1 ⊕ B ) ∩ A c
k = 1,2,3.....
where X0 is simply the starting point inside
the boundary, B is a simple structuring
element and Ac is the complement of A.
- This equation is applied repeatedly until Xk
is equal to Xk-1.
- Finally the result is unioned with the
original boundary.
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

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Region Filling Step By Step
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Exercises
Which is the result of:
• ⊕B,
• ⊕B,
• ⊕B
• ⊕B,
• ⊕B,
• ⊕B,
• ⊕B,
• ⊕B?
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Region Filling - Example
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Original Image One Region All Regions

Filled Filled
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Skeletonisation
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Morphological smoothing
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Morphological gradient
The morphological gradient is the difference between the dilation and
the erosion of a given image. It is an image where each pixel value (typically
non-negative) indicates the contrast intensity in the close neighborhood of that
pixel. It is useful for edge detection and segmentation applications.
Let a structuring element. Then, the morphological gradient of is
given by:

Similarly, it can be defined, an internal gradient given by:

and an external gradient given by:
The internal and external gradients are "thinner" than the gradient, but the
gradient peaks are located on the edges, whereas the internal and external
ones are located at each side of the edges. Notice that:
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Morphological gradient
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Summary
The purpose of morphological processing is
primarily to remove imperfections added during
segmentation.
The basic operations are erosion and dilation.
Using the basic operations we can perform
opening and closing.
More advanced morphological operation can
then be implemented using combinations of all
of these.