An improved parallel thinning algorithm

Thinning algorithms often cause stroke distortions at the crosses or intersections of strokes, which lead to bad results in pattern recognition tasks. In order to overcome these drawbacks, this paper proposes an improved thinning algorithm. By considering the eight-neighbors of the contour pixels of an image, it can produce a skeleton with good symmetry, control the large deformation at the crosses or intersections of strokes, and make a better skeleton more quickly. Moreover, it is practically immune to noise.