Morphology

(in Biology)

Deals with the form & structure

of animals & plants
Mathematical
Morphology
Tool for extracting image components
Useful in the representation &
description of region shape

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 Mathematical
Morphology

Relatively separate part of image analysis

Based on the algebra of non-linear operators

operating on object shape.

In many aspects supersedes the linear algebraic

system of convolution.

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Mathematical morphology is increasingly
becoming a popular tool for image
processing & analysis.

Unlike traditional image processing

techniques, the morphological techniques
treat an image as an ensemble of sets.

The operations are defined as an interaction

between two sets: an object and a
constructing element, and the language is
that of set theory.

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Z : set of integers
Z2 : coordinate space (x,y)
A : a set in Z2
w = (x, y) is an element of A
w Є A
B = {w | condition }
◦ B is a set of pixel coordinates satisfying condition
AC : complement of A

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 a = (a1, a2)
Complement of set A (a is a point)
AC = { w | w A}

Difference of set A & B

A - B = { w | w є A, w B}
= A ∩ BC

Reflection of set B

Translation of set A by point z = (z1, z2)

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Binary Images
Binary image
bi-valued function of x and y
morphological theory views
◦ binary image as a set of its
foreground (1-valued) pixels
◦ elements of Z2 1
1 1
1 1
1 1
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 Set operations can be applied directly to
binary image sets.
 For example if A and B are binary
images then
C = AUB is also a binary image.
 In terms of function C is given by
1 if either A( x,y ) or B( x,y ) is 1, or both are 1
C ( x, y )  
0 otherwise

Using the set notation

C  ( x, y ) | ( x, y )  A or ( x, y )  B or ( x, y )  ( A and B )

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Logic operations
Involving
Binary Images

Note: Here

Black represents
binary 1s

White represents
binary 0s

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The sets of black & white pixels constitute a
description of a binary image.
Assumption: only black pixels are considered &
the others are treated as background.

The primary morphological operations are

dilation & erosion.
From these two, more complex morphological
operations are constituted.
E.g. opening, closing etc.
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 Dilation is an operation that grows or
thickens objects in a binary image.
 The specific manner of this thickening is
controlled by a shape referred to as a
structuring element.
 The structuring element is translated
throughout the domain of the image to see
where it overlaps with 1-valued pixels. The
output image is 1 at each location of the
origin s.t. the structuring element overlaps at
least one 1-valued pixel in the input image.
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 Basic Components in Morphology
Every Operation has two elements.
1) Input Image
2) Structuring element
The results of the operation mainly
depends upon the structuring element
chosen. Origin is not a
member of the
structuring
element

Typical Structuring elements

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X denotes the origin of the structuring element
Dilation combines two sets using
vector addition
(a, b) + (c, d) = (a+c, b+d)

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Let,
A = {(1,0), (1,1), (1,2), (2,2), (0,3), (0,4)}
B = {(0,0), (1,0)}

Image B
Image A Structuring Dilation 15
element
 Dilation
(Another way of defining it)

Theoretical way of generation:

Obtain the reflection of B about its origin
Shift this reflection by z
The dilation of A by B then is set of all
displacements z, such that B^ and A overlap by at
least one element
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Structuring Element Decomposition
 Suppose that a structring element B can be
represented as a dilation of two structring
elements B1 and B2:
B  B1  B2
then
A  B  A  ( B1  B2 )  ( A  B1 )  B2

 That is, dilating A with B is the same as first

dilating A with B1 and then dilating the result
with B2.
 It is said that B can be decomposed into the
structring elements B1 and B2. 19
1 1 1 1
1 1 1  1 1 1 1
  
1 1 1 1

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Dilation when the representative point is not a
member of the structuring element

Image B
Image A Structuring Dilation
element
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 Properties of Dilation
Dilation is commutative

Dilation is associative

Dilation is invariant to translation

Dilation may be expressed as a union of shifted

point sets

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Application of Dilation
Used for bridging
gaps

B = [0 1 0; 1 1 1; 0 1 0];
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 Shrinks or thins objects in a binary
image
 Controlled by structuring element
 Translate structuring element, check
if it entirely fits within foreground of
image

 The mathematical defination is

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Let,
A = {(1,0), (1,1), (1,2), (0,3), (1,3), (2,3), (3,3), (1,4)}
B = {(0,0), (1,0)}

Image A Image B
Structuring
element Erosion 25
 Dilation & Erosion are duals of each
other wrt set complementation &
reflection

Proof:

If (B)z is contained in set A, then

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But the complement of the set of z’s that satisfy

is the set of z’s that satisfy

Thus,

Remember???

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 Application of Erosion
Used for eliminating
irrelevant details
It might decompose complicated
objects into several simpler ones.

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Combining Dilation and Erosion
In practical applications, dilation and
erosion are used most often in various
combinations.
Three of the most common
combinations of dilation and erosion are
 Opening
 Closing
 Hit-or-miss transformation

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If an image is eroded & then dilated (or vice-
versa), the original image is not re-obtained

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 Opening
Erosion followed by dilation
The morphological opening of A by structuring
element B is given as

Opening
Generally smoothes the contours of an object
Breaks narrow isthmuses
Eliminates thin protrusions
It is less destructive than the Erosion
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erode then dilate
union of all translations of B that fit
entirely within A
not union of the "origins" which would
be erosion
removes small objects and restores
shape

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 Closing
Dilation followed by Erosion
The morphological closing of A by structuring
element B is given as

Closing
Also tends to smooth sections of the contours
Generally fuses narrow breaks & long thin gulfs
Eliminates small holes & fills gaps in the contour
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 If an image A is unchanged by opening with the
structuring element B, then it is called
open with respect to B
If an image A is unchanged by closing with the
structuring element B, then it is called
closed with respect to B

Opening & closing with an isotropic

structuring element is used to eliminate
specific image details smaller than the
structuring element – the global shape of the
image is not distorted

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 Geometric interpretation of Opening operation

Opening can be thought of as a fitting process

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Geometric interpretation of Closing operation

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 Properties of
Opening Operation

is a subset (subimage) of A

If C is a subset of D, then is a subset of

The opening operation is idempotent, i.e.

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 Properties of
Closing Operation

A is a subset (subimage) of

If C is a subset of D, then is a subset of

The opening operation is idempotent, i.e.

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 The Hit-or-Miss
Transformation

A basic tool for

shape detection

It is a morphological operator for finding local

patterns of pixels
(local means the shape of the structuring
element)
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Hit or Miss Transform
Goal
◦To find the locations in set A,
where the object X fits exactly.
◦identify isolated foreground
pixels (say, shape (subset) X) or
◦end points of line segments

W is the local background of X; it is a small window

enclosing X.

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Erosion of A by X is the set of locations of
origin of X, such that X is completely
contained in A.

Therefore,
may be viewed geometrically as the set of all
locations of origin of X at which X found a
match (hit) in A.

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This notion can be generalized by letting
B = (B1, B2) where

B1 is the set formed from elements of B

associated with an object (X in this case)

B2 is the set of elements of B associated with

the corresponding background (W – X).

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 The set
Contains all the (origin) points at which,
simultaneously, B1 found a match (hit) in A
and B2 found a match in Ac.

Using the definition of set difference & the dual

relationship between erosion & dilation, the
above equation can be written as:

Note: A - B = A ∩ BC
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Hit: matches all 1's in B1
Erode to detect pixels with

Miss: none of 1s in B2
Erode to remove pixels with

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