11.17. ITK Closing By Reconstruction Image Filter
Fills small dark gaps in a grayscale image while preserving the shape of the structures that remain.
Group (Subgroup)
ITKMathematicalMorphology (MathematicalMorphology)
Description
A standard morphological closing (dilation followed by erosion) fills in small dark holes and gaps that are smaller than the structuring element, but it also distorts the shapes of the larger features it touches. Closing by reconstruction achieves the same hole-filling effect while preserving the exact shape of the structures, by replacing the final erosion with a morphological reconstruction step.
It is defined as ClosingByReconstruction(f) = ErosionByReconstruction(Dilation(f)). In addition to filling small dark gaps, the operation tends to raise the contrast of the darkest regions.
Parameter Guidance
Kernel Radius — the radius of the structuring element, in pixels (one value per axis). Dark gaps smaller than this are filled.
Fully Connected — controls neighbor connectivity during reconstruction (face-only versus face + edge + corner). Turn it on for thin, one-pixel-wide features.
Preserve Intensities — when on, pixels that the operation did not need to change are restored to their exact original gray values (rather than the slightly altered values produced internally), so only the filled regions differ from the input.
Kernel Type
The Kernel Type parameter selects the structuring element shape:
Annulus [0]: A ring-shaped structuring element.
Ball [1]: A spherical structuring element (default). Most commonly used for general morphological operations.
Box [2]: A rectangular/cuboid structuring element.
Cross [3]: A cross-shaped structuring element.
Required Input Sources
Operates on any scalar (grayscale) image — typically from Read Image, Read Images [3D Stack], or the output of a prior ITK image filter. Compare with the standard ITK Grayscale Morphological Closing Image Filter.
Reference
Pierre Soille, Morphological Image Analysis: Principles and Applications, Second Edition, Springer, 2003 (Chapter 6.3.9).
Input Parameter(s)
Parameter Name |
Parameter Type |
Parameter Notes |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Kernel Radius |
Vector of UInt32 Values |
Order=X,Y,Z |
The radius of the kernel structuring element. |
Kernel Type |
Choices |
Set the kernel or structuring element used for the morphology. |
|
Fully Connected |
Bool |
Set/Get whether the connected components are defined strictly by face connectivity or by face+edge+vertex connectivity. Default is FullyConnectedOff. For objects that are 1 pixel wide, use FullyConnectedOn. |
|
PreserveIntensities |
Bool |
Set/Get whether the original intensities of the image retained for those pixels unaffected by the opening by reconstruction. If Off, the output pixel contrast will be reduced. |
Input Cell Data
Parameter Name |
Parameter Type |
Parameter Notes |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Image Geometry |
Geometry Selection |
Image |
Select the Image Geometry Group from the DataStructure. |
Input Cell Data |
Array Selection |
Allowed Types: int8, uint8, int16, uint16, int32, uint32, int64, uint64, float32, float64 |
The image data that will be processed by this filter. |
Output Cell Data
Parameter Name |
Parameter Type |
Parameter Notes |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Output Cell Data |
DataObjectName |
The result of the processing will be stored in this Data Array inside the same group as the input data. |
Example Pipelines
License & Copyright
Please see the description file distributed with this Plugin
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