Patent ID: 8478064

Claim:
A method of analyzing an image, the method comprising: receiving, at one or more computer systems, at least one unfiltered image and at least one corresponding filtered image; receiving, at the one or more computer systems, information indicative of a selection of a first image element of the filtered image; receiving, at the one or more computer systems, information indicative of a first blurring operator; applying, with one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, the first blurring operator to a neighborhood surrounding the first image element to determine a blurred image element, wherein the blurring operator is adapted to reduce a magnitude of a high spatial frequency component of an image spectrum relative to a magnitude of a low spatial frequency component of the image spectrum; evaluating, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, an error metric to compare the blurred image element and the first image element with a corresponding image element of the unfiltered image; generating, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, an output image including at least a first output image element; and in response to the error metric satisfying a first criteria, setting, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, the first output image element to equal the blurred image element.