Extraction of Connected Components

Connected component extraction can be efficiently performed using the bwlabel function, with lung images serving as a practical example. The bwlabel function is a MATLAB built-in function specifically designed for labeling connected components in binary images. This function operates by scanning the image pixel-by-pixel and assigning unique labels to connected regions using either 4-connected or 8-connected neighborhood criteria. It enables identification and isolation of distinct regions within images, facilitating subsequent analysis and processing operations. In this lung image example, bwlabel can systematically extract connected components representing lung structures, allowing individual analysis of each anatomical region. The function's algorithm automatically detects connected regions through efficient scanning and labeling mechanisms, eliminating manual processing steps. Key implementation aspects include: the function returns a label matrix where each connected component has a unique integer value, and optionally provides the number of detected components. By leveraging bwlabel, image processing and analysis workflows become significantly more efficient, particularly for medical image analysis tasks requiring region quantification and characterization.