Thinning combined with iteration-by-iteration smoothing for 3D binary images

In this work we present a new thinning scheme for reducing the noise sensitivity of 3D thinning algorithms. It uses iteration-by-iteration smoothing that removes some border points that are considered as extremities. The proposed smoothing algorithm is composed of two parallel topology preserving reduction operators. An efficient implementation of our algorithm is sketched and its topological correctness for (26, 6) pictures is proved.

Research highlights► An advanced 3D parallel contour smoothing algorithm is presented. ► The proposed smoothing algorithm is topology preserving for (26, 6) pictures. ► A new thinning scheme with iteration-by-iteration smoothing is proposed. ► Our thinning scheme can produce skeletons with less unwanted parts.