A model of object shape by nets of medial and boundary primitives is justified as richly capturing multiple aspects of shape and yet requiring representation space and image analysis work proportional to the number of primitives. Metrics are described that compute an object representation's prior probability of local geometry by reflecting variabilities in the net's node and link parameter values and that compute a likelihood function measuring the degree of match of an image to that object representation. A paradigm for image analysis of deforming such a model to optimize a posterior probability is described, and this paradigm is shown to be usable as a uniform approach for object definition, object-based registration between images of the same or different imaging modalities, and measurement of shape variation of an abnormal anatomical object compared with a normal. Examples of applications of these methods in radiotherapy, surgery, and psychiatry are given.

Believing that figural zoom invariance and the cross-figural boundary linking implied by medial loci are important aspects of object shape, we present the mathematics of and algorithms for the extraction of medial loci directly from image intensities. The medial loci called cores are defined as generalized maxima in scale space of a form of medial information that is invariant to translation, rotation, and in particular, zoom. These loci are very insensitive to image disturbances, in strong contrast to previously available medial loci, as demonstrated in a companion paper. Core-related geometric properties and image object representations are laid out which, together with the aforementioned insensitivities, allow the core to be used effectively for a variety of image analysis objectives.

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