Fast region analysis using standard image processing hardware

Region analysis of binary images includes standard 'blob counting' as well as the computation of geometric properties (area, perimeter, moments, number of holes) of the connected components or regions in an image. Software algorithms for region analysis are well known, and special purpose vendor systems are now available for real-time and near real-time binary region analysis. In this paper, we describe algorithms using a combination of software and inexpensive image hardware (e.g. boards from Matrox, Imaging Technology) that perform region analysis on 512×480 images in times ranging from about a half second (< 10 regions) to a few seconds (several hundred regions) on a PC/AT (80286) based system, and well under a second for all the cases we have tested on a 80386 based system.