concepts introduced in Chapter 8 to three dimensions. An in-depth description
of the mathematical basis of morphological operators is presented in [58–60].
14.11.1 Binary Morphology
Mathematical morphological operators are based on set theory. An object O in
a binary 3-D image can be denoted as
O ¼ v: f vðÞ¼1, v ¼ x, y, zðÞ2Z
3
(14:52)
where f is called the characteristic function of O. Similarly, the object back-
ground, O
c
, can be defined as follows [58]
O
c
¼ v: f vðÞ¼0, v ¼ x, y, zðÞ2Z
3
(14:53)
All morphological operations utilize a structuring element (also known as
the kernel), which determines the precise details of the effect that the operator
has on the input image. In 3-D morphology, the structuring element is a small
cluster of voxels, arranged ...