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Abstract

A method an apparatus for detecting lines in medical images is disclosed, wherein a direction image array and a line image array are formed by filtering a digital image with a single-peaked filter, convolving the resultant array with second order difference operators oriented along the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal axes, and computing the direction image arrays and line image arrays as direct scalar functions of the results of the second order difference operations. Advantageously, line detection based on the use of four line operator functions along the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions in accordance with the preferred embodiments actually results in fewer computations than line detection based on the use of three line operator functions. In particular, because of the special symmetries involved, 3.times.3 second order difference operators may be effectively used. Moreover, the number of computations associated with the second order difference operations may be achieved with simple register shifts, additions, and subtractions, yielding an overall line detection process that is significantly less computationally intensive than prior art algorithms. Also according to a preferred embodiment, computational complexity is reduced by selecting a separable single-peaked filter, and sequentially convolving the digital image with the component kernels of the separable single-peaked filter.

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