Aims of this thesis

The aims of this thesis are manifold. First, it proposes faster algorithms to produce exact Euclidean distance maps. Secondly, it explores extensions of the distance transformation concepts such as the geodesic distances of chapter 8 or the k-distance of chapter 10. Thirdly, it illustrates those methods by applying them to solve practical problems in medical image processing. Ultimately, it intends to present a global view on the powerful image analysis tools that are distance transformations, the methods to implement them and the cases where they can be successfully applied.