itk_laplace

apply Laplacian of Gaussian filter to a volume

itk_laplace <input> <output> [options]

DESCRIPTION

itk_laplace applies a Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) filter to an image volume using the Insight Toolkit (ITK). The LoG filter first smooths the image with a Gaussian kernel of a given sigma, then computes the Laplacian (second spatial derivative). This highlights regions of rapid intensity change such as edges and boundaries.

The LoG filter is commonly used for edge detection, blob detection, and as a preprocessing step for segmentation. The --sigma parameter controls the scale of the Gaussian smoothing: smaller values detect fine detail while larger values respond to broader features.

OPTIONS

--verbose

Print verbose information during processing.

--clobber

Overwrite the output file if it already exists.

--sigma val

Set the standard deviation (sigma) of the Gaussian kernel in mm. Controls the spatial scale of the filter. Default is 1.0.

--float

Store output voxels as 32-bit floating point.

--double

Store output voxels as 64-bit double-precision floating point.

EXAMPLES

Apply a Laplacian of Gaussian filter with default sigma:

itk_laplace input.mnc laplacian.mnc --float

Apply with a larger sigma for coarser edge detection:

itk_laplace input.mnc laplacian.mnc --sigma 2.0 --float

Apply with double precision output:

itk_laplace input.mnc laplacian.mnc --sigma 0.5 --double --clobber

AUTHOR

Vladimir S. Fonov - Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University.

COPYRIGHTS

Copyright (C) Vladimir S. Fonov, McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, McGill University.

SEE ALSO

itk_laplacian_sharpening, itk_diffusion, mincblur, itk_vesselness