Segmentation of individual pores in 3D paper images

In this paper, we show that the void space in 3D images of paper can be successfully divided into subspaces using digital volume image analysis. The subspaces are denoted pores, which are connected to each other by contractions or narrowings, throats. This division of the void space into individual pores opens the possibility of extracting geometrical features as well as localising where pores with a certain feature are located in the paper. The method is illustrated on a 3D reconstruction from 2D Scanning Electron Microscopy images of a five layered duplex board. Examples of easily extracted features for the segmented pores and plots for some pore features versus the position of the pore in the paper are presented