NEW LINE-BASED THINNING ALGORITHM

Thinning algorithms can be classified into two general types: sequenti al and parallel. Most of them peel off the boundaries until the object s have been reduced to thin lines. The process is performed iterativel y, the number of iterations being approximately equal to half the maxi mum line width of the object. Several sequential boundary based algori thms have been proposed, but they have limitations. A new line-based a lgorithm is presented. The thinning element of the algorithm is a line and not, as more common, a point. The algorithm is based on a new lin e thinning model and is applicable to objects of general shape. The li ne-based thinning algorithm gives the freedom of choosing the deletion width at each iteration, and thus significantly reduces the number of iterations. The selection of the deletion width is a trade-off betwee n speed and quality of skeletons. Experimental results are used to com pare this new algorithm to other sequential algorithms and their relat ive performances are assessed. The new algorithm is shown to be comput ationally more efficient.