Local Curvature from Gradients of the Orientation Tensor Field

This paper presents an algorithm for estimation of local curvature from gradients of a tensor field that represents local orientation. The algorithm is based on an operator representation of the orientation tensor, which means that change of local orientation corresponds to a rotation of the eigenvectors of the tensor. The resulting curvature descriptor is a vector that points in the direction of the image in which the local orientation rotates anti-clockwise and the norm of the vector is the inverse of the radius of curvature. Two coefficients are defined that relate the change of local orientation with either curves or radial patterns