Patent ID: 7471815

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for candidate generation in three-dimensional volumetric data comprising: performing, using a computer processor, the steps of: forming a binary volumetric image of the three-dimensional volumetric data including labeled foreground voxels, where the foreground voxels comprising a plurality of pixels of the binary volumetric image; estimating a plurality of shape features of the labeled foreground voxels in a plurality of cross-sections of the binary volumetric data comprising: identifying high curvature voxels from the foreground voxels in the plurality of cross-sections as voxels having a curvature greater than a threshold curvature and identifying peak voxels among the voxels having the curvature greater than the threshold, wherein the peak voxels have a curvature value reaching a maximum with a local neighborhood of a predefined size, accumulating a confidence value for each peak voxel, wherein a confidence value for each peak voxel increases with a number of voxels having the curvature greater than the threshold in a patch grown around the peak voxel, detecting confidence peaks from the plurality of confidence values, wherein the confidence peaks are determined to be the candidate points; and refining the candidate points given detected confidence peaks, wherein refined candidate points constitute a candidate object in the three-dimensional volumetric data.