``Binary_Opening'' -- morphological binary opening

purpose:

Perform a binary morphological opening; i.e., an erosion followed by a dilation [25,19]. The size of the structuring element used for the erosion and dilation is given by the parameters ``x filter dim = '', etc.

Overall, this function smooths the surfaces of objects. It removes sharp capes from objects. It also breaks apart objects connected by narrow isthmuses.

input:

An 8-bit volume.

output:

An 8-bit binary-valued volume.

parameters:

Default parameters menu is

x filter dim = 3
y filter dim = 3
z filter dim = 3
option = rectilinear
input from vol # = 0
copy output to vol # = 0

The same options exist for ``option = '', as for ``erode'', etc.

comments:

1. This is moderately fast, taking as long as one erosion and one dilation.
2. This operation is idempotent; i.e., iterating the operation has no impact on the results.

Updated: Fri May 19 14:39:07 CDT