Optimal parameter height ridges

Ridges have shown themselves to be extremely useful for various image analysis tasks. This paper presents a number of common ridges used in image processing within a common framework and then proproses a defining property for ridges, the subdimensional maximum property. This paper then presents a generalization of locally defined ridges called the optimal parameter height ridge. This paper then discusses the properties of the optimal parameter height ridge and benefits to be gained from its use. Finally, the paper presents the calculations necessary to extract optimal parameter height ridges and proves that optimal parameter height ridges have the subdimensional maximum property. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).