ABSTRACT
So far, we have discussed the various methods for manipulating in-
dividual pixels in the image through filtering, Fourier transform etc. An
important part of image analysis involves understanding the shape of
the objects in that image through morphological operations. Morphol-
ogy means form or structure. In morphological operations, the goal is to
transform the structure or form of the objects using a structuring ele-
ment. These operations change the shape and size of the objects in the
image. Morphological operations can be applied on binary, grayscale
and color images. We omit color morphology in this chapter, as most
bio-medical images are grayscale or binary images. We begin with basic
morphological operations such as dilation, erosion, opening, and clos-
ing and then progress to compound operations such as hit-or-miss and
skeletonization.
