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1. Image processing:

Image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an
image, such as photographs or frames of video. The output of image processing can be
either an image or a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image. Most image-
processing techniques involve treating the image as a two-dimensional signal and applying
standard signal-processing techniques to it.

Image processing usually refers to digital image processing, but optical and
analog image processing are also possible.

Fig. shows the red, green, and blue colors of a photograph.

Digital image processing is the use of computer algorithms to perform image

processing on digital images. As a subfield of digital signal processing, digital image
processing has many advantages over analog image processing; it allows a much wider
range of algorithms to be applied to the input data, and can avoid problems such as the
build-up of noise and signal distortion during processing.

The process of receiving and analyzing visual information by digital

computer is called digital image processing and scene analysis. The phenomenon of image
processing and analysis starting from the receiving of visual information to the giving out
of description of the scene, may be divided into three major stages which are given below:

Discretization and representation: Converting visual information into a

discrete form suitable for computer processing and approximating visual information.

Processing: Improving image quality by filtering or compressing data to

save storage space and channel capacity during transmission.

Analysis: Extracting image features, quantifying shapes and recognition.

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In the initial stage, the input is a scene (visual information), and the output is
corresponding digital image. In the secondary stage, both the input and the output are
images where the output is an improved version of the input. And, in the final stage, the
input is still an image but the output is a description of the contents of that image.

2. Tasks:

Digital image processing allows the use of complex algorithms for image
processing, and hence can offer both more sophisticated performance at simple tasks, and
the implementation of methods which would be impossible by analog means. In particular,
digital image processing is the only practical technology for:

2.1) Feature extraction:

In image processing, feature extraction is a special form of dimensionality

reduction. When the input data to an algorithm is too large to be processed, then the input
data will be transformed into a reduced representation set of features. Transforming the
input data into the set of features is called feature extraction. If the features extracted are
carefully chosen it is expected that the features set will extract the relevant information
from the input data in order to perform the desired task using this reduced representation
instead of the full size input.

Feature extraction involves simplifying the amount of resources required to

describe a large set of data accurately. When performing analysis of complex data one of
the major problems stems from the number of variables involved. Feature extraction is a
general term for methods of constructing combinations of the variables to get around these
problems while still describing the data with sufficient accuracy.

There is no exact definition of what constitutes a feature, and the exact

definition often depends on the problem or the type of application. Given that, a feature is
defined as an "interesting" part of an image, and features are used as a starting point for
many computer vision algorithms. Since features are used as the starting point and main
primitives for subsequent algorithms, the overall algorithm will often only be as good as its
feature detector.

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Feature detection is a low-level image processing operation. That is, it is

usually performed as the first operation on an image, and examines every pixel to see if
there is a feature present at that pixel. If this is part of a larger algorithm, then the algorithm
will typically only examine the image in the region of the features.

Since many computer vision algorithms use feature detection as the initial
step, a very large number of feature detectors have been developed. These vary widely in
the kinds of feature detected, the computational complexity and the repeatability. At an
overview level, these feature detectors can be divided into the following groups:

2.1.1) Edges

Edges are points where there is a boundary between two image regions. In
practice, edges are usually defined as sets of points in the image which have a strong
gradient magnitude. These algorithms may place some constraints on the shape of an edge.
Locally, edges have a one dimensional structure.

Fig. shows measurement of gap between electrodes using Edge Detection

Fig. shows the detection of presence of a part using Edge Detection

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2.1.2) Corners

The terms corners are used somewhat interchangeably and refer to point-like
features in an image, which have a local two dimensional structure. The name "Corner"
arose since early algorithms first performed edge detection, and then analyzed the edges to
find rapid changes in direction. These algorithms were then developed so that explicit edge
detection was no longer required, for instance by looking for high levels of curvature in the
image. It was then noticed that the corners were also being detected on parts of the image.

2.2) Pattern recognition

Pattern recognition is a sub-topic of machine learning. It is "the act of taking

in raw data and taking an action based on the category of the data". Most research in pattern
recognition is about methods for supervised learning and unsupervised learning.

It aims to classify data based either on statistical information extracted from

the patterns. The patterns to be classified are usually groups of measurements or
observations, defining points in an appropriate multidimensional space.

It locates regions of a grayscale image that match a predetermined template.

It finds template matches regardless of poor lighting, blur, noise, shifting of the template, or
rotation of the template. Then your machine vision application searches for the model in
each acquired image, calculating a score for each match. The score relates how closely the
model matches the pattern found.

We can perform dimensional measurement, or gauging tools to obtain

quantifiable, critical distance measurements. Typical measurements include the distance
between points; the angle between two lines represented by three or four points; the best
line, circular, or elliptical fits; and the areas of geometric shapes-such as circles, ellipses,
and polygons-that fit detected points.

Color plays a significant role in pattern matching. It can simplify a

monochrome visual inspection problem by improving contrast or separating the object from
the background. Color inspection involves three areas: color matching, color location, and
color pattern matching.

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2.2.1) Color Matching

Color matching quantifies which colors and how much of each color exist in
a region of an image and uses this information to check if another image contains the same
colors in the same ratio. We can use color matching in applications that require the
comparison of color information to make decisions.

Following figure shows an example of a tile identification application.

Figure (a) shows a tile that needs to be identified. Figure (b) shows a set of reference tiles
and their color matching scores obtained during color matching.

Fig. shows to identify tiles using color matching color location

We can use color location to quickly locate known color regions in an

image. With color location, create a model that represents the colors required. Then the
machine vision application searches for the model in each acquired image and calculates a
score for each match. The score indicates how closely the color information in the model
matches the color information in the regions found.

Following figure shows a candy sorting application. Using color templates

of the different candies in the image, color location quickly locates the positions of the
different candies.

Fig. shows to sort candy using color location

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2.2.2) Color Pattern Matching

We can use color pattern matching to quickly locate known reference

patterns, or fiducially, in a color image. With color pattern matching, you create a model or
template that represents the object for which you are searching. Then the machine searches
for the model in each acquired image, calculating a score for each match. The score
indicates how closely the model matches the color pattern found. Use color pattern
matching to locate reference patterns that are fully described by the color and spatial
information in the pattern.

Following figure shows the difference between color location and color
pattern matching. Figure (a) is the template image of a resistor that the algorithms are
searching for in the inspection images. Although color location, shown in Figure (b), finds
the resistors, the matches are not very accurate because they are limited to color
information. Color pattern matching uses color matching first to locate the objects and then
uses pattern matching to refine the locations, providing more accurate results, as shown in
Figure (c).

Figure shows to accurately locate the resistors using color pattern matching

Color pattern matching is the key to many applications. Color pattern

matching provides your application with information about the number of instances and
location of the template within an image.

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2.3) Signal processing

Signal processing is the analysis, interpretation, and manipulation of signals.

Signals of interest include: sound, images, biological signals, such as electrocardiograms,
radar signals and many others. Processing of such signals includes: filtering, storage and
reconstruction, separation of information from noise (for example, aircraft identification by
radar), compression (for example, image compression) and feature extraction (for example,
speech-to-text conversion).

For analog signals, signal processing may involve the amplification and
filtering of audio signals for audio equipment or the modulation and demodulation of
signals for telecommunications. For digital signals, signal processing may involve digital
filtering and compression of digital signals. Different types of signal processing are shown
below:

• Analog signal processing — for signals that have not been digitized, as
in classical radio, telephone, radar, and television systems.
• Discrete signal processing — for signals that are defined only at
discrete points in time, and as such are quantized in time, but not magnitude.
• Digital signal processing — for signals that have been digitized.
• Statistical signal processing — analyzing and extracting information
from signals based on their statistical properties.
• Audio signal processing — for electrical signals representing sound,
such as speech or music.
• Speech signal processing — for processing and interpreting spoken
words.
• Image processing — in digital cameras, computers, and various
imaging systems.
• Video processing — for interpreting moving pictures.

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3. Applications

 Computer vision
 Face detection
 Feature detection
 Medical image processing
 Microscope image processing
 Remote sensing
 Morphological image processing

3.1) Computer vision:

Computer vision is concerned with the theory for building artificial systems
that obtain information from images. The image data can take many forms, such as a video
sequence, views from multiple cameras, or multi-dimensional data from a medical scanner.

Computer vision can also be described as a complement (but not necessarily

the opposite) of biological vision. In biological vision, the visual perception of humans and
various animals are studied, resulting in models of how these systems operate in terms of
physiological processes. Computer vision, on the other hand, studies and describes artificial
vision system that is implemented in software and/or hardware. Interdisciplinary exchange
between biological and computer vision has proven increasingly fruitful for both fields.

Sub-domains of computer vision include scene reconstruction, event

detection, tracking, object recognition, learning, indexing, motion estimation, and image
restoration.

3.2) Face detection:

Face detection is a computer technology that determines the locations and

sizes of human faces in arbitrary (digital) images. It detects facial features and ignores
anything else, such as buildings, trees and bodies.

Many algorithms implement the face-detection task as a binary pattern-

classification task. That is, the content of a given part of an image is transformed into

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features, after which a classifier trained on example faces decides whether that particular
region of the image is a face, or not.

Often, a window-sliding technique is employed. That is, the above

mentioned classifier is used to classify the portions of an image, at all locations and scales,
as either faces or non-faces.

A given natural image often contains many more background patterns than
face patterns. Indeed, the number of background patterns may be 1,000 to 100,000 times
larger than the number of face patterns. This means that if one desires a high face-detection
rate, combined with a low number of false detections in an image, one needs a very specific
classifier. Applications in this field often use the rough guideline that a classifier should
yield a 90% detection rate, combined with a false-positive rate in the order of 10-6.

3.3. Feature detection:

In computer vision and image processing the concept of feature detection

refers to methods that aim at computing abstractions of image information and making local
decisions at every image point whether there is an image feature of a given type at that
point or not. The resulting features will be subsets of the image domain, often in the form of
isolated points, continuous curves or connected regions.

3.4. Medical imaging:

Medical imaging refers to the techniques and processes used to create

images of the human body or parts of it for clinical purposes to reveal, diagnose or examine
disease or medical science including the study of normal anatomy and physiology. As a
discipline and in its widest sense, it is part of biological imaging and incorporates radiology
radiological sciences, endoscopy, medical thermography, medical photography and
microscopy.

3.5) Microscope image processing:

Microscope image processing is a broad term that covers the use of digital
image processing techniques to process, analyze and present images obtained from a

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microscope. Such processing is now common in a number of diverse fields such as

medicine, biological research, cancer research, drug testing, metallurgy etc.

3.6) Remote sensing:

Remote sensing is the small or large-scale acquisition of information of an

object or phenomenon, by the use of either recording or real-time sensing devices that is not
in physical contact with the object such as by way of aircraft, spacecraft, satellite or ship.
Thus, Earth observation or weather satellite collection platforms, ocean and atmospheric
observing weather buoy platforms, monitoring of a pregnancy via ultrasound, Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and space probes are all
examples of remote sensing. Remote sensing makes it possible to collect data on dangerous
or inaccessible areas. Other uses include different areas of the earth sciences such as natural
resource management, agricultural fields such as land usage and conservation, and national
security and overhead, ground-based and stand-off collection on border areas.

3.7) Morphological image processing:

Morphological image processing or Mathematical morphology (MM) is a

theory and technique for the analysis and processing of geometrical structures, based on set
theory, lattice theory, topology, and random functions. MM is most commonly applied to
digital images, but it can be employed as well on graphs, surface meshes, solids, and many
other spatial structures.

Fig. shows a shape and its morphological dilation and erosion

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