Patent ID: 8705877

Claim:
A method for segmenting an image, comprising the steps of: acquiring, through an image acquisition system, a plurality of images; 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 clustering further comprising the steps of: 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 one or more predetermined stability criteria are met; transitioning one or more mesostable segments to one or more corresponding stable segments upon a determination that the one or more mesostable segments have remained stable for a predetermined number of frames; and merging one or more stable and mesostable segments.