Image Separation using Wavelets and Shearlets

Abstract

In this paper, we present an image separation method for separating images into point- and curvelike parts by employing a combined dictionary consisting of wavelets and compactly supported shearlets utilizing the fact that they sparsely represent point and curvilinear singularities, respectively. Our methodology is based on the very recently introduced mathematical theory of geometric separation, which shows that highly precise separation of the morphologically distinct features of points and curves can be achieved by $\ell^1$ minimization. Finally, we present some experimental results showing the effectiveness of our algorithm, in particular, the ability to accurately separate points from curves even if the curvature is relatively large due to the excellent localization property of compactly supported shearlets.