Real-time robust line detection in microscopy images

We discuss an algorithm to detect lines in low contrast images in the presence of noise. The images we consider are orientation imaging microscopy (OIM) images of metal surfaces. The objective is to locate lines (boundaries between grains) in the OIM images and use that information to determine where three grains intersect (triple junctions). We use a novel method for fusion edge enhancement and a new fast skeletonization procedure using a new and efficient hit and miss transform (HMT) that produces lines of one pixel width.