Appeal No. 96-4074
Application 08/387,669
pending in the present application.
The invention relates to the field of image processing. In particular, the invention is directed to
finding the center of approximately circular patterns in images. Appellant discloses on page 1 of the
specification that it is important to determine the center of an approximately circular pattern of an image
of a droplet of fluid to be tested. On page 2 of the specification, Appellant discloses the invention is a
method and system for determining the best central location in an image by determining a score for each
of a set of candidate center locations where the highest score is the most likely center of those in the set
of candidates.
The independent claim 1 is reproduced as follows:
1. A method for finding a center of an approximately circular pattern in a physical image, the
method comprising the steps of:
scanning the physical image to produce an array of digital values;
applying the array of digital values to a predetermined score calculation;
calculating a score at each of a set of candidate center locations, including a highest score and a
lowest score;
determining which one of the set of candidate center locations has the highest score;
selecting as the center of the approximately circular pattern, the candidate center location
determined as having the highest score.
The Examiner relies on the following references:
Watanabe et al. (Watanabe) 4,644,583 Feb. 17, 1987
2
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