Patent ID: 7149343

Claim:
An automated method of locating a defect on an object of interest, wherein the object includes a defect-artifact region corresponding to a location of the defect and a defect-free region absent the defect, the automated method comprising: acquiring an image of the object, the image including the defect-artifact region with a defect-artifact that obscures the defect, the defect-artifact being spatially correlated to portions of the defect-free region; processing the image data in accordance with an algorithm to locate the defect within the defect-artifact region; applying a first threshold value to the image to create a first thresholded image depicting a potential defect location in the first defect-artifact region, the first thresholded image encompassing the potential defect location and extending into the defect-free region; applying a second threshold value to the image data to create a second thresholded image, the second thresholded image depicting the potential defect location in a second defect-artifact region, the second defect-artifact region encompassing the potential defect location and extending into the defect-free region; selecting a first peak within the first defect-artifact region; selecting a second peak within the second defect-artifact region; and calculating a gradient extending between the first and second peaks.