Edge detection using nonlinear structure tensor

In order to improve the performance of edge detection for noisy images, a new edge detection method based on nonlinear structure tensor is proposed. First, the tensor product of noisy images is calculated. The tensor product is diffused according to the image gradient, which depends on the tensor product itself. Finally, the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the diffusion tensor product are calculated, and the edges of the image are detected according to the eigenvalues. The method is compared with other methods. The experimental results show that the average number of edge points detected by method 1, method 2, method 3, and this method are 513.7, 530.0, 509.0, and 719.3, respectively. The average detection time of method 1, method 2, method 3, and this method were 65.3, 54.9, 57.3, and 33.6 s, respectively. When the number of edge detection is the largest, the average detection time of this method is significantly smaller than that of the three comparison methods. Therefore, this method is more suitable for edge detection of noisy images, and the performance of this method is better than that of the comparison method and can improve the performance of edge detection of noisy images.