SKELETONIZATION USING AN EXTENDED EUCLIDEAN DISTANCE TRANSFORM

A standard method to perform skeletonization is to use a distance tran sform. Unfortunately, such an approach has the drawback that only the symmetric axis transform can be computed and not the more practical sm oothed local symmetries or the more general symmetry set. Using singul arity theory we introduce an extended distance transform which may be used to capture more of the symmetries of a shape. We describe the rel ationship of this extended distance transform to the skeletal shape de scriptors themselves, and other geometric phenomena related to the bou ndary of the curve. We then show how the extended distance transform c an be used to derive skeletal descriptions of an object.