Patent ID: 6934407

Claim:
An image processing method of detecting tag points in a current tagged image of a sequence of tagged images, comprising: in the current image, estimating points which have optimal intensity values in intensity profiles and labeling said points as candidate points of a tag; using a previously constructed predicted image constituted by predicted tags determined from tag equations of a preceding image of the sequence and from spatial and temporal parameters; and, in the current image, detecting tag points among said candidate points from said previously constructed predicted image; determining tag equations for the current image from said detected tag points; and using said tag equations in the construction of a further predicted image for processing a next image of the sequence, wherein detecting tag points from said previously constructed predicted image comprises: distinguishing two kinds of tags: negative tags corresponding to minimum magnetization and to maximum intensity in the intensity profile, and positive tags corresponding to maximum magnetization and to minimum intensity in the intensity profile; distinguishing two kinds of candidate points: candidate points being optimum value points corresponding to maximum intensity in the intensity profile, and candidate points being optimum value points corresponding to minimum intensity; selecting points of a negative tag D as being the candidate points corresponding to the maximum intensity, which are situated between the two predicted positive tags surrounding the predicted negative tag that corresponds to the negative tag D, and symmetrically selecting the points of a positive tag.