Signal Processing ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

1 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

3
Signal Processing
5

7 journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sigpro

11
Characterization of bio-dynamic speckles through classical and fuzzy
13 mathematical morphology tools
15 Q1 Eduardo Blotta a,n, Agustina Bouchet a,b, Marcel Brun a, Virginia Ballarin a
a
17 Grupo de Procesamiento Digital de Imágenes, Facultad de Ingenierı́a, U.N.M.D.P. Mar del Plata, Argentina
b
Q3 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientı́ficas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina

19

21 a r t i c l e i n f o abstract

23 Article history: In this paper we characterize dynamic speckle signals, obtaining selective information
Received 2 May 2012 through the differentiation of morphological patterns of the temporal history of each
Received in revised form pixel, using the morphological granulometric function. This method is applied to the
25 26 October 2012
analysis of images of apples and corn seeds. Studies on the first ones were focused on
Accepted 4 January 2013
the activity on their surface, related to healthy and damaged areas, while for seeds on the
27 viability of the embryo and endosperm. Subsequently, the analysis was repeated using
Keywords: fuzzy mathematical morphology techniques, comparing the results obtained by both
29 Dynamic speckle methods.
Mathematical morphology
& 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Fuzzy mathematical morphology
31 Morphological granulometric function

33 63

35
1. Introduction
37
When a surface that has physical or biological activity
39
is illuminated by coherent light, such as a laser, the
scattered light displays a granular structure, i.e. present-
41
ing randomly distributed light and dark spots, which
change over time, giving a visual effect of ‘‘water boiling’’.
43
This effect is known as ‘‘dynamic’’ speckle or ‘‘bio-
speckle’’. This phenomenon has been studied in various
45
types of biological samples, such as fruits [15] and seeds
[7]. Various methods and techniques have been developed
47
for measuring the activity of a speckle pattern [8,1], but,
in most cases, the results consist of a single image, with
49
no analysis of the temporal information. Subsequently,
selective filtering techniques were used for studying the
51
bio-speckle signals through spectral decomposition
[16,11]. Going in the same direction, we introduced
53
recently a new method for bio-speckle analysis based on
55
57
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ54 223 474 5994.
Q5 Q4
E-mail address: eblotta@fi.mdp.edu.ar (E. Blotta).
59
0165-1684/$ - see front matter & 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.
61 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2013.01.001
65
the morphological spectrum obtained by morphological
67
granulometry [4,3,5].
This technique is based on the theory of mathematical
69
morphology (MM) [14,17], which is a powerful set of tools
for digital image processing. These techniques allow
71
enhancement of diffuse areas, object segmentation, edge
detection and structures analysis via the use of operators or
73
filters. This discipline is based on sets algebra and can be also
be used as a tool for signals analysis. The techniques, initially
75
developed for binary images, were also extended to the field
of gray level images. Another approach to extend binary
77
operators to gray level images, the fuzzy mathematical
morphology (FMM), is based on fuzzy sets theory. Often,
79
the fuzzy operators result more robust than classical mor-
phological operators [6].
81
When illuminated by a laser light, fruits show an
speckle activity that can be related to the degree of
83
maturity, turgor pressure, damage, age and mechanical
properties. For this reason, it is interesting to develop
85
numerical methods which allow to extract useful infor-
mation of the speckle image sequences.
87
On the other hand, the study of the feasibility of germina-
tion is an important topic in production and marketing seeds.
89

Please cite this article as: E. Blotta, et al., Characterization of bio-dynamic speckles through classical and fuzzy
mathematical morphology tools, Signal Processing (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2013.01.001i
 2 E. Blotta et al. / Signal Processing ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

1 They have been developed many tests to determine strength Typical speckle signal 63
and viability of seed germination. Other studies about the 200
3 reliability of the tests and equivalence between them also 65
exist [12]. In this context, the evaluation of laser interfero- 150
5 metry techniques as tools for seeds analysis is worthy to take 67

Gray level
into account.
7 In this paper, we apply MM and FMM filters to biological 100 69
samples of red delicious apples, as a tool for the diagnostic of
9 early damage of the surface of the fruit, and to corn seeds, to 50
71
study its performance in the germination process.
11 73
0
50 100 150 200
13 75
t
2. Methods
15 Fig. 2. Typical temporal evolution of a bio-speckle. 77
2.1. Dynamic speckle
17 79
When a surface, that has a certain physical or biological
19 activity, is illuminated by a high coherence light beam, the 81
PC
scattered light by the surface has a granular structure +
21 composed of small bright and dark areas, randomly dis- Frame Grabber 83
tributed, which change over time, producing an visual
23 effect as a boiling liquid. 85
Fig. 1 shows a typical image. This effect, known as
25 ‘‘dynamic speckle’’, is a result of coherent light scattering 87
Video
by objects that exhibit some level of activity. These type Camera
27 of images present variations in the local intensity corre- (CCD) 89
sponding to the level of biological activity in the area
29 under observation. Fig. 2 shows the temporal evolution of 91
the intensity of a sample pixel, or gray levels, in a typical
31 sequence of dynamic speckle images. Due to the stochas- Laser 93
tic nature of the signal, it would be impossible with the
33 naked eye recognize the correspondence of this with any 95
particular area of a biological sample.
35 The dynamics of the speckle effect is usually quite Sample 97
complex due to multiple physical mechanisms involved
37 [18], but the activity evaluation can help to recognize the 99
Fig. 3. Experimental speckle bank.
complex processes occur in a biological sample.
39 101
2.2. Experiments
41 103
The test bank used to obtain the images is shown in
43 Fig. 3. We used a low-power He–Ne laser (5 mW, 105
l ¼ 633 nm) to illuminate the samples, using a divergent
45 beam expanded to encompass a wide region. Subjective 107
speckle images were formed by a objective (usually
47 f¼ 50 mm, f/#¼16). Thus, measurement of average 109
speckle grains covered several pixels. For the experiment
49 with apples, an inert reference object was added in the 111
images. Successive images were stored on a PC by a CCD
51 camera connected to a acquisition board. Low lighting 113
levels were used so that the effect of irradiation on the
53 sample was negligible. The laser illumination was 115
adjusted to keep constant the average intensity in the
55 image throughout the test. 117
To study variations of the speckle phenomenon in the
57 surface of the fruit, a controlled hit was applied to the 119
healthy apples. That hit was caused by a falling steel ball
59 (dm¼21.9 mm, weight¼33.6 g) from a height of 20 cm of 121
fruit surface. The damage in the sample could not be
61 Fig. 1. Typical speckle pattern. appreciated by simple visual inspection. Images were 123

Please cite this article as: E. Blotta, et al., Characterization of bio-dynamic speckles through classical and fuzzy
mathematical morphology tools, Signal Processing (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2013.01.001i
 E. Blotta et al. / Signal Processing ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]] 3

1 acquired in 300  300 pixels, digitized into 256 gray Speckle signal: before and after aperture filtering 63
levels, each 0.5 s approximately. Sequences took 500 200
3 pictures before, and immediately after the coup. 65
Described image sequences were stored in 3D arrays
150
5 (300  300  256) where the third variable is the time. 67

Gray level
Thus, the temporal evolution of each pixel can be ana-
7 lyzed to detect changes in biological activity due to 69
100
changes in the surface of the fruit.
9 In the case of seeds, experiments cited by the original 71
paper [7] were held to explore how moisture affects
50
11 speckle activity. This work, however, was focused on the 73
qualitative aspects of the samples and the different 100 120 140 160 180 200
13 morphologies in order to segment the interest areas of t 75
the seed, for analysis. We used specimens of corn seeds, Fig. 4. Morphological opening applied on a bio-speckle signal.
15 previously wetted, cutted in half and we took sequences 77
of 100 images of 256  480 pixels, using the bank
17 previously described, with the same configuration. GSD of a bio−speckle signal 79
0.8

19 2.3. Mathematical morphology 81

0.6
21 The basic image operators of the mathematical 83

Ø(n)
morphology (MM) are the dilation and the erosion. Many 0.4
23 other operators of the MM are built combining these two 85
operators. 0.2
25 We will describe in this section the morphological 87
operators used for the analysis of the unidimensional bio-
27 0 89
speckle signals, defined by f : D  Z-f0,1,2, . . . ,255g, 0 20 40 60 80 100
where Z is the set of integer numbers. n
29 The dilation of the signal f by the signal b, called also 91
structuring element (SE) is defined by [17] Fig. 5. Example of the granulometric size distribution for a bio-speckle
31 signal. 93
dðf ,bÞðxÞ ¼ supff ðxyÞ þ bðyÞg ð1Þ
y2Db
33 is probed by increasing shapes (the SE), which can be 95
where x 2 Df , and Df and Db are the support of f and b, compared to a selective filtering of the shape of the signal,
35 respectively. since the signal is smoothed with more strength in each 97
The same way we define the erosion of the signal f by iteration. The operation ends for a value n ¼N, which
37 the signal b, by [17] depends on the shape of the signal, when there is no 99
eðf ,bÞðxÞ ¼ inf ff ðxyÞbðyÞg ð2Þ variation between two consecutive openings.
y2Db
39 Fig. 5 shows an example of GSD calculated for the 101
Based on these two operators of dilation and erosion, signal of Fig. 4.
41 the opening is defined as the combination of a erosion 103
followed by a dilation:
43 2.4. Fuzzy mathematical morphology 105
gðf ,bÞ ¼ dðeðf ,bÞ,bÞ ð3Þ
45 Both, the operator and the SE chosen, will determine The fuzzy mathematical morphology (FMM) provides a 107
the characteristics of the resulting processed signal. way to extend mathematical morphology’s binary operators
47 Fig. 4 shows the effect on the signal obtained by the to gray level images, extending the set operations to fuzzy set 109
application of a morphological opening to a bio-speckle ones, based on the theory of fuzzy sets. Fuzzy sets are defined
49 signal, with a linear SE of length 2. by their ‘‘membership’’ function, with values in the interval 111
If we consider Oðf 0 Þ the area under the original signal, [0,1] [10].
51 and Oðf n Þ the area under the signal fn, obtained by For the unidimensional case, gray level signals with 113
applying an opening to f0 with a lineal SE of length n, range between 0 and 255 can be ‘‘fuzzified’’ to fit in the
53 we can define the granulometric size distribution fðnÞ, or [0,1] range, via the function g : f0,1,2 . . . ,255g-½0,1 115
GSD [9], by x
55 gðxÞ ¼ ð5Þ 117
Oðf n Þ 255
fðnÞ ¼ 1 , n ¼ 0, . . . ,N ð4Þ
Oðf 0 Þ
57 It is important to note that this does not mean that the 119
fðnÞ is a non-decreasing function, similar to statistical signal represents a fuzzy membership function for some
59 cumulative distribution, but without reaching the value object, this is just a way to model the gray level signal 121
one, which is fixed later by a normalization factor. It to be able to apply morphological operators defined via
61 represents the variation of the area under the signal as it fuzzy set operations. Signals can be defuzzified by applying 123

Please cite this article as: E. Blotta, et al., Characterization of bio-dynamic speckles through classical and fuzzy
mathematical morphology tools, Signal Processing (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2013.01.001i
 4 E. Blotta et al. / Signal Processing ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

1 h : ½0,1-f0,1,2 . . . ,255g defined by Fuzzy granulometry is obtained applying the fuzzy 63

opening. Oðf 0 Þ is the area under the original signal, and
hðxÞ ¼ ½255  x ð6Þ F
3 Oðf Fn Þ is the area under the signal fn, which is obtained by 65
where ½: : R-Z represents the function opening of f0 using a SE of length n. The fuzzy granulo-
F
5 metric size distribution f ðnÞ, or FGSD, is defined by 67
½a ¼ supfk 2 Z=k r ag ð7Þ
Oðf Fn Þ
7 In this framework, the fuzzy morphological dilation of fF ðnÞ ¼ 1 , n ¼ 0, . . . ,N ð11Þ 69
a signal f by a SE b is defined by [2,6] Oðf 0 Þ
9 fF ðnÞ is a non-decreasing function, similarly to fðnÞ. 71
dF ðf ,bÞðxÞ ¼ supfTðf ðyÞ,bðyxÞÞg ð8Þ
y2Db
11 73
where T½a,b is a T-norm [10]. 3. Results
13 The fuzzy morphological erosion of the signal f by the 75
SE b is defined by [2,6] Fig. 6, shows the results of the GSD for on the speckle
15 signal for apples, using three different SEs, (a)–(c), and the 77
eF ðf ,bÞðxÞ ¼ inf fSðf ðyÞ,cðbðyxÞÞÞg ð9Þ
y2Db results of the FGSD for the same signal and SEs, (d)–(f),
17 using the Dubois & Prade norms, and finally the results of 79
where S½a,b is a T-conorm and cðaÞ ¼ 1a is the fuzzy
the FGSD using the standard norm, (g)–(i).
complement [13].
19 In the images displayed in Fig. 6, showing the results of 81
Fuzzy opening is defined in the same way as in the
the analysis of bio-speckle for apples, the lower left corner
MM. The fuzzy opening gFb ðf Þ of the signal f by the signal b
21 shows a dark region, with no activity, associated to a steel 83
is defined by
plate placed in the area for reference. On the right side of
23 gðf ,bÞFb ¼ dF ðeF ðf ,bÞ,bÞ ð10Þ the images we can see a brighter round area, displaying 85
higher activity, corresponding to the place where the
25 In this work we used a set of T-norms and T-conorms, apple was hit. The rest of the apple, free of mechanical 87
which provide different fuzzy morphology operators damages, shows intermediate values of activity.
27 (Tables 1 and 2), choosing to show only results for the Fig. 6(a), (d) and (g) shows a light filtering, removing 89
best ones: standard and Dubois & Prade. only the most prominent peaks of the signals, due to the
29 small length of the SE, of 2 pixels. Fig. 6(b), (e) and (h) 91
Table 1
T-norms. shows a stronger filtering, with SE of length 10, which
31 removed larger peaks of the signal. Finally, Fig. 6(c), (f) 93
T-norm and (i) shows a strong filtering of most of the peaks of the
33 signals, with an SE of length 30. Larger SEs were tried, 95
Standard Tða,bÞ ¼ minða,bÞ
with no further results, which may suggest a spectral
Algebraic Tða,bÞ ¼ ab
35 Bounded Tða,bÞ ¼ maxð0,a þ b1Þ density, compatible with previous works based on filter 97
8
Drastic < a for b ¼ 1
> banks [16].
37 Tða,bÞ ¼ b for a ¼ 1 Fig. 6(b) and (c), processed with MM, shows clearly the 99
>
:
0
cc place where the apple was hit, while the images pro-
39 Dubois & Pradea ð1aÞð1bÞ cessed with FMM do not show higher sensibility to the 101
Tða,bÞ ¼ 1
maxð1a,1b, gÞ
hit, except for Fig. 6(d) and (g), but made visible some
Hamacherb ab
41 Tða,bÞ ¼
g þ ð1gÞða þ babÞ dark regions, no visible in the images of the MM, with 103
some specific activity not associated to the mechanical
a
43 g belong to the interval ð0,1Þ. damage, worthy to study in subsequent research. 105
b
g must be positive. To quantify the segmentation performance of the
45 different filtering methods, based on our knowledge about 107
the three interest regions, we chose the best classified
Table 2
47 T-conorms. image to build a synthetic image, as a gold standard, with 109
the mean values of the three regions, segmented manu-
49 Q2 T-conorm ally, which was compared to the apple images (a)–(g) 111
obtained by the morphological analysis, computing their
Standard Sða,bÞ ¼ maxða,bÞ
51 mean square error (MSE). Lower values mean better 113
Algebraic Sða,bÞ ¼ a þ bab
Bounded Sða,bÞ ¼ minð1,a þ bÞ segmentation performance. Table 3 shows the MSE for
8
53 Drastic > a for b ¼ 0
<
the different techniques and SE lengths. Results show that 115
Sða,bÞ ¼ b for a ¼ 0 classic filtering with a SE of length 10 perform the best
>
:
55 1 cc segmentation. 117
Dubois & Pradea ð1aÞð1bÞ Same morphological techniques were applied on the
Sða,bÞ ¼ 1
maxð1a,1b, gÞ
57 corn seed, previously hydrated to force it to start the 119
Hamacherb a þ b þ ðg2Þab
Sða,bÞ ¼
1 þ ðg1Þab
germination process, and cut in two parts. Fig. 7 displays a
59 characterization of such seed. In this kind of seed the 121
a
g belong to the interval ð0,1Þ. cotyledon absorbs the food reserves from the endosperm.
a
61 g must be positive. The coleoptile is the protective sheath covering the 123

Please cite this article as: E. Blotta, et al., Characterization of bio-dynamic speckles through classical and fuzzy
mathematical morphology tools, Signal Processing (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2013.01.001i
 E. Blotta et al. / Signal Processing ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]] 5

1 63

3 65

5 67

7 69

9 71

11 73

13 75

15 77

17 79

19 81

21 83

23 85

25 87

27 89

29 91

31 93

33 95

35 97
F F F
Fig. 6. Apple images after morphological filtering (SE lengths: 2, 10 and 30): (a)–(c) fð2Þ, fð10Þ and fð30Þ, respectively. (d)–(f) f ð2Þ, f ð10Þ and f ð30Þ,
37 F F F
using Dubois & Prade norms. (g)–(i) f ð2Þ, f ð10Þ and f ð30Þ, using standard norms.
99

39 101
Table 3
41 Mean of square quadratic errors between gold standard apple image and 103
filtered speckle image. Lower values mean better segmentation
performance.
43 105
Granulometry SE ¼ 2 SE ¼10 SE ¼ 30
45 107
Classic 0.5356 0.3978 0.7796
Dubois & Prade 0.7691 2.0664 2.2075
47 Standard 0.7691 2.9491 2.9472
109

49 111
hypocotil, and it is the first structure to raises from the
51 soil during germination. 113
Fig. 8, shows the results of the GSD for on the speckle
53 signal for corn, using three different SEs, (a)–(c), and the 115
results of the FGSD for the same signal and SEs, (d)–(f),
55 using the Dubois & Prade norms, and finally the results of 117
Fig. 7. Constitutive parts of a corn seed.
the FGSD using the standard norm, (g)–(i).
57 Fig. 8 shows the results for corn. In images (a)–(c), 119
obtained by using MM, we can see a major contrast Table 4 shows the MSE computed for corn seed,
59 between the different regions, while images (d)–(i), contrasted to a hand-drawn image, with optimal segmen- 121
obtained by FMM (Dubouis & Prade and standard norms), ted corn regions of embryo and endosperm. Lower values
61 show uniform gray levels in the embryo region. mean better segmentation performance. 123

Please cite this article as: E. Blotta, et al., Characterization of bio-dynamic speckles through classical and fuzzy
mathematical morphology tools, Signal Processing (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2013.01.001i
 6 E. Blotta et al. / Signal Processing ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

1 63

3 65

5 67

7 69

9 71

11 73

13 75

15 77

17 79

19 81

21 83

23 85

25 87

27 89

29 91

31 93

33 95

35 97

37 99

39 101

41 103

43 105

45 107

47 109

49 111

51 113

53 115

55 117

57 119

59 121
F F
Fig. 8. Corn seed images after morphological filtering (SE lengths: 2, 10 and 30): (a)–(c) fð2Þ, fð10Þ and fð30Þ, respectively. (d)–(f) f ð2Þ, f ð10Þ and
61 fF ð30Þ, using Dubois & Prade norms. (g)–(i) fF ð2Þ, fF ð10Þ and fF ð30Þ, using standard norms. 123
 E. Blotta et al. / Signal Processing ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]] 7

1 Table 4 future implementations in real time, for example for the

Mean of square quadratic errors between gold standard corn seed image development of field instruments. 51
and filtered speckle image. Lower values mean better segmentation
3
performance.
References 53
5 Granulometry SE ¼2 SE ¼ 10 SE ¼ 30
[1] R. Arizaga, N. Cap, H.J. Rabal, M. Trivi, Display of local activity using 55
7 Classic 6.1600 2.0376 1.4473 dynamic speckle patterns, Optical Engineering 41 (2002) 287–294.
Dubois & Prade 2.3611 2.1571 2.0519 [2] I. Bloch, H. Maitre, Fuzzy mathematical morphologies: a compara-
Standard 2.3611 2.7069 2.8384
57
tive study, Pattern Recognition 28 (9) (1995) 1341–1387.
9 [3] E.L. Blotta, V. Ballarin, H. Rabal, Decomposition of bio-speckle
signals trough granulometric size distribution, Optics Letters 34– 59
11 In most of the images, mainly for (a)–(c), we can detect 38 (2009) 1201–1204. (ISSN: 0146-9592).
[4] E.L. Blotta, J. Pastore, V. Ballarin, H. Rabal, Classification of dynamic
constitutive elements of the embryo, brighter that the rest 61
speckle signals through granulometric size distribution, Latin
13 of the image, with different degrees of detail. The other American Applied Research 39-2 (2009) 179–183. (ISSN:0327- 63
important region, regarding seed viability, the endosperm, 0793).
15 shows darker level. We can also see that FMM tends to [5] Blotta Eduardo, Balları́n Virginia, Brun Marcel, Rabal Héctor, 65
Evaluation of speckle-interferometry descriptors to measuring
uniform the gray levels for embryo, differentiating
drying-of-coatings, Signal Processing 91 (October (10)) (2011)
17 correctly embryo from endosperm. In order to improve 2395–2403. ISSN: 0165-1684, Elsevier North-Holland, Inc. 67
the analysis of the results, further analysis by biologist [6] A. Bouchet, M. Brun, V. Balları́n, Morfologı́a matemática difusa
19 will be required. aplicada a la segmentación de angiografı́as retinales, Revista 69
Argentina de Bioingenierı́a 16 (Junio (1)) (2010) 7–10.
[7] R. Braga Jr., I. Dal Fabbro, F. Borem, G. Rabelo, R. Arizaga, H. Rabal,
21 4. Conclusions M. Trivi, Assesment of seed viability by laser speckle techniques, 71
Biosystems Engineering 86 (3) (2003) 287–294.
23 Application of dynamic speckle techniques for determin- [8] J.D. Briers, Sian Webster, Laser speckle contrast analysis (lasca): 73
a nonscanning, full-field technique for monitoring capillary blood
ing properties in various biological samples, such as fruits
flow, Journal of Biomedical Optics 1 (2) (1996) 174–179.
25 and seeds, has been considered in several studies using [9] E.R. Dougherty, J.T. Astola, An Introduction to Nonlinear Image 75
different approaches and getting different results. In this Processing. Tutorial Texts in Optical Engineering, SPIE Press,
27 paper we showed the advantages of the use of morphological Bellingham, Wash, USA, 1994 TT 16. 77
[10] H. Dubois, D. Prade, Fuzzy Sets and Systems: Theory and Applica-
tools in the analysis of bio-speckle signals and we also made tions, Academic Press Inc, New York, 1980.
29 a comparison with latest widespread tools as is the fuzzy [11] A. Federico, G. Kaufmann, Evaluation of Dynamic Speckle Activity 79
mathematical morphology. using the Empirical Mode Decomposition Method, Elsevier Science,
31 Good results were obtained by calculating the granulo- 2006. 81
[12] J.G. Hampton, L. Kahre, A.J.G. Van Gastel, Quality seed from
metric size distribution of the speckle sequences, with a production to evaluation, Seed Science & Technology 24 (1996)
33 satisfactory level of detail. The granulometry is a ‘‘sieving’’ 393–407. 83
method with a reduced computational cost, in part because [13] E.P. Klement, R. Mesiar, E. Pap, Triangular norms. position paper i:
35 of its use of integer arithmetic. basic analytical and algebraic properties, Fuzzy Sets and Systems 85
143 (1) (2004) 5–26. Advances in Fuzzy Logic.
On the other hand, the computational cost of using [14] G. Matheron, Ramdon Sets and Integral Geometry, Wiley Series
37 granulometry based on fuzzy mathematics does not in Probability and Mathematical Statistics, John Wiley & Sons, 87
increase significantly over classical granulometry. As for New York, NY, USA, 1975.
[15] M. Pajuelo, G. Baldwin, H. Rabal, N. Cap, R. Arizaga, M. Trivi, Bio-
39 the feasibility to become a viable technique for the 89
speckle assessment of bruising in fruits, Optics and Lasers in
analysis of dynamic speckle signals, deeper studies of Engineering 40 (2003) 13–24.
41 the biological field must be done by specialists to draw [16] G.H. Sendra, R. Arizaga, H. Rabal, M. Trivi, Decomposition of 91
major conclusions, but a priori, it can be observed that biospeckle images in temporary spectral bands, Optics Letters 30
(13) (2005) 1641–1643.
43 may be effective as complementary tools. 93
[17] J. Serra, Image Analysis and Mathematical Morphology, Academic
The application of these methods could be useful when Press, 1982 vol. I.
45 high resolution and low computational cost are required. [18] Héctor J. Rabal, Ricardo A. Arizaga, Nelly Lucı́a Cap, Marcelo Trivi, 95
This makes it very suitable to be implemented on micro- Graciela Romero, Elvio Alanı́s, Transient phenomena analysis using
dynamic speckle patterns, Optical Engineering 35 (1) (1996) 57–62.
47 controllers, DSPs and logic programmable devices for 97

49

Please cite this article as: E. Blotta, et al., Characterization of bio-dynamic speckles through classical and fuzzy
mathematical morphology tools, Signal Processing (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2013.01.001i