Using local convexities as anchor points for 3D curve skeletonization

A new algorithm is introduced to compute the curve skeleton of 3D objects by using the notion of local convexity. The centers of maximal balls detected on the distance transform of the object are filtered to select as anchor points only those located on sharp local convexities of the object's boundary. Then, the skeleton is obtained by means of topology preserving removal operations. Pruning is finally accomplished to remove from the skeleton scarcely significant peripheral branches.