Carlos López Molina

Mr Carlos López Molina, computer engineer and PhD at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA), has put forward a technique for enhancing the results from the automatic edge detection in images. The application of these techniques is very varied: from the recognition of objects in artificial intelligence systems and the automatic driving of cars, to helping expert diagnosis using medical images.

Edge detection of images acquires special relevance in medical applications, for example for delimiting a tumour. According to this researcher, “on analysing images in black and white, one has to know where the colour is changing and what kinds of changes the doctor is trying to detect, as these data will aid the doctor in their diagnoses.” In his PhD, Mr López investigated possible uses for computational techniques, generally linked to Soft Computing, for improving the results of edge detection.

What is put forward in this thesis is the improvement of results through the adjustment of each one of the transformations undergone by the image. For example, one of the aspects analysed was the use of intervaled images: “Instead of using just one value for each pixel of the image, I propose using an interval. That is, in a black and white image, instead of each having a single grey tone, it would have an interval that encompasses the tones that this pixel could have taken on. This provides more information when analysing the images and, in consequence, reduces the possibilities of error”.

From an applied perspective, the author analysed the possible uses of edge detection in the field of bioengineering. Thus, in the course of the research, Mr López had a number of visits to the University of Ghent with the aim of applying the knowledge and techniques acquired through his PhD thesis in a practical manner.

The thesis, “The breakdown structure of edge detection: Analysis of individual components and revisit of overall structure” was led by university teachers Humberto Bustince, from the Department of Automation and Computation at the UPNA, and Bernard De Baets, from the Bioengineering Faculty at the University of Ghent. As a result of this thesis seven articles for publication were presented in international journals, of which four have been published and two are at the final revision stage. Moreover, a number of developments on the topic have been presented at ten different international conferences.

* Elhuyar translation, published in www.basqueresearch.com