63fb46d6_bster_US___Patent_applications__Description
[Patent application number] 20100310170 [Published] 12-09-2010 [Description] 
THIN LINE DETECTION IN SCANNED IMAGE DATA - Disclosed herein is a method for detecting thin lines in image data. The method is performed by a processor to process contone image data. The processing includes thresholding a window of pixels established in the contone domain to generate a binary window of image data, and then determining characteristics associated with on pixels or runs of the binary data. The characteristics (start and end locations, length of on runs) are then thresholded. The processing in the contone and binary domain are used to determine if a thin line exists in the window of image data. The disclosed method produces better quality output images and reduces the addition of false lines in an image.
Xing Li, Webster US - Patent applications