A multiscale gradient algorithm for image segmentation using watershelds

Abstract

Watershed transformation is a powerful tool for image segmentation. However, the effectiveness of the image segmentation methods based on watershed transformation is limited by the quality of the gradient image used in the methods. In this paper we present a multiscale algorithm for computing gradient images, with effective handling of both step and blurred edges. We also present an algorithm for eliminating irrelevant minima in the resulting gradient images. Experimental results indicate that watershed transformation with the algorithms proposed in this paper produces meaningful segmentations, even without a region merging step. The proposed algorithms can efficiently improve segmentation accuracy and significantly reduce the computational cost of watershed-based image segmentation methods.