Patent ID: 7889941

Claim:
A method of segmentation of an image u 0 comprising: utilizing a processor to create a plurality of smooth regions Ω i delimited by a boundary Γ; approximating the image by a piecewise smooth function u σ inside each region Ω i ; and evaluating a functional, wherein the piecewise smooth function is expressed as: u σ ⁡ ( x , Ω i ) = ∫ Ω i ⁢ g σ ⁡ ( x - y ) ⁢ u 0 ⁡ ( y ) ⁢ ⁢ ⅆ y ∫ Ω i ⁢ g σ ⁡ ( x - y ) ⁢ ⁢ ⅆ y , ⁢ wherein ⁢ ⁢ g σ ⁡ ( v ) = 1 2 ⁢ π ⁢ ⁢ σ ⁢ exp ⁡ ( - v 2 2 ⁢ σ 2 ) is a Gaussian kernel.