Patent ID: 8229180

Claim:
A computer implemented method for detecting anatomical features in 3D ear impressions, the method performed by said computer comprising the steps of: receiving a 3D digital image of a 3D ear impression; obtaining a surface of said ear impression from said 3D image; analyzing said surface with one or more feature detectors, said detectors adapted to detecting generic features, including peak features, concavity features, elbow features, ridge features, and bump features, and derived features that depend on generic features or other derived features; and forming a canonical ear signature from results of said detectors, wherein said canonical ear signature characterizes said 3D ear impression; wherein detecting a concavity feature comprises: identifying a region of interest (ROI) contained in said surface; specifying a first and second orthogonal directions along said ROI; scanning said ROI along said first direction to generate a profile of first contours in said ROI; identifying those points on each first contour having a lowest negative curvature; computing a seed point location from an average location of said points having a lowest negative curvature; scanning said ROI along said second direction to generate a profile of second contours; identifying those points on each second contour having a lowest negative curvature; correcting the seed point location by averaging over the locations of said points having a lowest negative curvature on each second contour; and growing a concave regions outward from said seed point, wherein concavity features of an ear include the tragus center, the anti-tragus center, the crus center, and the anti-helix center.