Patent ID: 7444019
Filing Date: 2008-10-28
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
1. A method of segmenting an image comprising the steps of: representing an image by a grid with a plurality of nodes, terminals, and edges, wherein said nodes correspond to voxels in the image, said terminals include a source and a sink, and wherein said edges include n-links and t-links, wherein each n-link connects a pair of nodes, and said t-links connect a node to a terminal, and wherein each t-link and n-link has an associated cost; initializing a node height table, a flow excess table, a t-link capacity table, and an n-link capacity table based on the t-link and n-link costs; and updating said node height table, said flow excess table, said t-link capacity table, and said n-link capacity table in parallel for all nodes until said flow excess table is zero for all nodes, wherein said nodes are segmented into a sink set and a source set based on the values of the node height table, wherein each n-link is associated with a reverse n-link among the n-links, and wherein said parallel updating further comprises the steps of