Patent ID: 8351668

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for identifying a plurality of objects in an image, the image including at least one agglomerate comprising a first object and a second object, the method comprising: a computer system identifying a plurality of objects in an image; the computer system determining a boundary of an identified object; the computer system analyzing the boundary of the identified object to detect a first bifurcation and a second bifurcation, wherein each bifurcation is an intersection of a perimeter of a first object and a perimeter of a second object; the computer system determining that the identified object comprises an agglomerate; the computer system determining an orientation of each of the first bifurcation and the second bifurcation; and the computer system estimating a perimeter of each of the first object and the second object using the orientation of the first bifurcation and the orientation of the second bifurcation; the computer system approximating the first object as a first polygon; the computer system approximating the second object as a second polygon; the computer system assigning an integer representation to each side of each of the first polygon and the second polygon; and the computer system representing the orientation of the first bifurcation as a first integer and a second integer, the first integer corresponding to the integer representation of a location on the first polygon of the first bifurcation, and the second integer corresponding to the integer representation of a location on the second polygon of the first bifurcation.