Patent ID: 7466872

Claim:
An object based boundary refinement method for object segmentation in digital images comprising the steps of: a) Inputting an image; b) Inputting a single initial object regions of interest; Using a computer to perform the steps of c) Performing refinement zone definition using the initial object regions of interest to generate refinement zones output, wherein the refinement zones output consists of an outer-limit zone and an inner-limit zone; d) Performing directional edge enhancement using the input image and the refinement zones to generate directional enhanced region of interest output; e) Performing radial detection using the input image, the refinement zones and the directional enhanced region of interest to generate radial detection mask output; f) Performing final shaping using the radial detection mask to generate single object region output wherein the final shaping step further consists of the steps of: 1) Performing boundary constrain using the radial detection mask to generate-constrained detection mask output; 2) Performing fine boundary detection using the radial detection mask and the directional enhanced region of interest to generate fine boundary mask output; 3) Combining the constrained detection mask the fine boundary mask and inner-limit zone to generate combined detection mask output; 4) Performing multi-directional conditional refinement using the combined detection mask and the outer-limit zone to generate single object region output.