Complicial thinning for three-dimensional digital images: recursive definition of reductive points and their topological characteristics

Overview & Synopsis

Thinning is an image operation whose goal is to reduce objet points in a "topology-preserving" way. In the process, therefore, the denition of reductive points plays an important role. Most of conventional definitions are based on the concept of point connectivities and they lack topological tools, especially for three-dimensional digital images. In this paper, we introduce a new notion of thinning based on polyhedral complexes which give a topology in the discrete space and the recursive definition of reductive points. We also clarify their topological characteristics which provide an effective thinning algorithm.