Image pattern matching utilizing discrete curve matching with a mapping operator

System and method for determining the presence of an object of interest in a target image. Regions of a target image may be located that match an object of interest, e.g., in a template image, with respect to various information, e.g., luminance, color and/or other types of boundary information. The invention includes improved methods for mapping point sequences (e.g., pixel sequences) or curves to new point sets or curves for curve matching. The method determines the presence of an object of interest in a target image despite of or using various types of topological transformations of the object of interest in the target image. One or more mapping operators are determined based on template curves and/or example target curves. Pattern matching is performed on one or more target images using the mapping operator(s) to generate pattern matching results, and the pattern matching results output.