The presence of oriented features in images often conveys important information about the scene or the objects contained; the analysis of oriented patterns is an important task in the general framework of image understanding. As in many other applications of computer vision, the general framework for the understanding of oriented features in images can be divided into low- and high-level analysis. In the context of the study of oriented features, low-level analysis includes the detection of oriented features in images; a measure of the local magnitude and orientation of oriented features over the entire region of analysis in the image is called the orientation field. High-level analysis relates to the discovery of patterns in the orientation field, usually by associating the structure perceived in the orientation field with a geometrical model. This book presents an analysis of several important methods for the detection of oriented features in images, and a discussion of the phase portrait method for high-level analysis of orientation fields. In order to illustrate the concepts developed throughout the book, an application is presented of the phase portrait method to computer-aided detection of architectural distortion in mammograms. Table of Contents: Detection of Oriented Features in Images / Analysis of Oriented Patterns Using Phase Portraits / Optimization Techniques / Detection of Sites of Architectural Distortion in Mammograms

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Fábio J. Ayres obtained his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering at the University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, in 1997 and his M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering at the same university in 2001. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2007 at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. His research interests are image-based computer-aided diagnosis, computer vision, and surgical simulation. Rangaraj M. Rangayyan is a Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and an Adjunct Professor of Surgery and Radiology, at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He received the Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication in 1976 from the University of Mysore at the People's Education Society College of Engineering, Mandya, Karnataka, India, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, in 1980. His research interests are in the areas of digital signal and image processing, biomedical signal analysis, biomedical image analysis, and computer[1]aided diagnosis. He has published more than 140 papers in journals and 220 papers in proceedings of conferences. His research productivity was recognized with the 1997 and 2001 Research Excellence Awards of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the 1997 Research Award of the Faculty of Engineering, and by appointment as a "University Professor" in 2003, at the University of Calgary. He is the author of two textbooks: Biomedical Signal Analysis (IEEE/ Wiley, 2002) and Biomedical Image Analysis (CRC, 2005); he has coauthored and coedited several other books. He was recognized by the IEEE with the award of the Third Millennium Medal in 2000, and was elected as a Fellow of the IEEE in 2001, Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 2002, Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Bio[1]logical Engineering in 2003, Fellow of SPIE: the International Society for Optical Engineering in 2003, Fellow of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine in 2007, Fellow of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society in 2007, and Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2009. He has been awarded the Killam Resident Fellowship thrice (1998, 2002, and 2007) in support of his book-writing projects. J.E. Leo Desautels obtained his M.D. from the University of Ottawa in 1955, and completed post-graduate training in radiology at the Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI. He was a Staff Radiologist at the Foothills Hospital and a Clinical Professor with the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, from 1970 to 1994. He served as a Reference Radiologist to the Alberta Program for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer until 2007. He is an Adjunct Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary. He is interested in computer applications in mammography.