Patent ID: 8218879

Claim:
A method for detecting and removing unwanted information in a medical image comprising: processing said image to obtain edge information, wherein said processing comprises down sampling said image to generate a plurality of image levels having successively decreasing image resolutions; generating a list of at least one candidate edge in said image from said edge information according to predetermined criteria, wherein each of said at least one candidate edge corresponds to a single blade of a shutter used to generate said image, the shutter including a plurality of blades, and wherein said list is generated by selecting a first candidate list at a lowest of said plurality of image levels, and promoting said first candidate list through subsequent image levels until a highest of said image levels and using candidate edges promoted to said highest of said image levels as said list of at least one candidate edge; evaluating each of said at least one candidate edge according to a predetermined rule set to select one or more of said at least one candidate edge that is considered to define the extent of said unwanted information within said image, said evaluating comprising comparing said at least one candidate edge to other information in said image; and removing said unwanted information based on the location of said one or more of said at least one candidate edge in said image.