Visual programming system for development of image processing applications

Visualprogramming using reusable software components and a dataflow model of computation is proposed as a method to reduce software development time and cost in the construction of image processing applications. A graphical editor is described that allows interactive definition of logical relationships among components of systems through direct manipulation of on-screen icons. This editor manages the syntax of datafiow graphs and catalogs of component parts while the semantics of the operation of these parts is provided by a separate postprocessor. The postprocessor includes a user extensible set of primitive (i.e., low-level) component parts for image processing from which more complex algorithms may be constructed. This environment provides a powerful visual programming system for rapid interactive development of machine vision algorithms and management of reusable image processing software. A case study describing construction of a medical image processing application is included.

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