Automatic method for segmenting leaves by combining 2D and 3D image-processing techniques

In this study, a method to automatically segment plant leaves from three-dimensional (3D) images using structure from motion is proposed. First, leaves in the 3D images are roughly segmented using a region-growing method in which near points with distances less than 0.2 cm are assigned to the same group. By repeating this process, the leaves not touching each other can be segmented. Then, each segmented leaf is projected onto two-dimensional (2D) images, and the watershed algorithm is executed. This process successfully segments overlapping leaves.