Patent ID: 7515756

Claim:
A method of segmenting an image having a plurality of pixels, the method comprising: using a processor to perform the steps of: dividing the image into a plurality of sticks of pixels, wherein each stick contains at least two pixels; determining whether each stick belongs to any region from a set of region; and classifying each stick that belongs to any region as belonging to a specific region of the set of regions, wherein the classifying each stick that belongs to any region as belonging to a specific region of the set of regions comprises: determining whether any member of a set of previously processed sticks belong to any region; assigning an earliest region identifier of a set of previously processed sticks to the current stick When a member of the set of previously processed sticks belongs to any region and the current stick belongs to any region; and assigning a new region identifier to the current stick when the current stick belongs to any region and no member of the set of previously processed sticks belongs to any region.