Segmentation and landmark identification in infrared images of the human body

The segmentation and landmark identification in infrared images of the human body are key steps in a computerized processing of large database of thermal images. The segmentation task is especially challenging due to specific characteristics of thermal images. Few papers deal with segmentation techniques for clinical infrared images and available segmentation methods (e.g. for breast or military thermal images) do not perform well on other types of images. This paper presents a few strategies for the automated segmentation and registration of anatomical landmarks on thermal images of arms and hands. The segmentation method is based on mathematical morphological operations and simple rule based processing easily available through prior knowledge about the objects of interest.