ALGORITHM FOR THE COMPUTATION OF REGION-BASED IMAGE EDGE PROFILE ACUTANCE

We propose an algorithm for the computation of a region-based measure of image edge profile (IEP) acutance based on gray-level variations ac ross the boundary of an object A procedure to calculate the acutance b ased on region growing and a root-mean-squared gradient measure across region boundaries has been designed and implemented. After testing th e algorithm on various images, it is shown that this measure of acutan ce can accurately reflect changes in the appearance of objects due to blurring and sharpening operations. Using this technique, it should be possible to quantify the level of enhancement in a digital image by c alculating the acutance before and after the enhancement operation. Th e measure should also be useful in comparing specific features or regi ons of interest in images produced by different imaging systems.