Patent ID: 8761509

Claim:
A system for segmenting an image, comprising: an image acquisition system for acquiring a plurality of images; and a processor for clustering pixels from one of the plurality of images into one or more segments, each segment being defined in a state of either stable, mesostable or unstable, the processor further performing the clustering by determining one or more residual pixels changing by more than a predetermined threshold, grouping the one or more determined residual pixels to form one or more segments selected from the group of unstable and mesostable segments, determining depth for all unstable and mesostable segments, transitioning one or more unstable segments to one or more corresponding mesostable segments if the unstable segment is determined to have a valid depth, transitioning one or more mesostable segments to one or more corresponding stable segments upon a determination that one or more predetermined stability criteria have been met, and merging one or more stable and mesostable segments.