This page describes how to use ITK from .NET.
NOTE: You must build ITK, wrapper DLL, and .NET exe all using the same target platform i.e. Win32/x86 or Win64/x64

  1. Download CMake, ITK source code, and SWIG
  2. Build ITK (see here for help)
  3. Create the following CMakeLists.txt file:
    # File: CMakeLists.txt
    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)
    
    project(ExampleWrapper)
    
    find_package(ITK REQUIRED)
    include(${ITK_USE_FILE})
    
    add_library(ExampleWrapper SHARED example.h example.hxx example_wrap.cxx)
    target_link_libraries(ExampleWrapper ${ITK_LIBRARIES})
    
  4. Create the following example.h file:
    // File : example.h
    #ifndef __example_h
    #define __example_h
    
    #include <string>
    
    template<class TPixel, unsigned int VDimension>
    void SmoothImage(
        const std::string input, const std::string output, const double sigma
    );
    
    #include "example.hxx"
    
    #endif // __example_h
    
  5. Create the following example.hxx file:
    #ifndef __example_hxx
    #define __example_hxx
    
    #include "example.h"
    
    #include "itkImage.h"
    #include "itkImageFileReader.h"
    #include "itkImageFileWriter.h"
    #include "itkSmoothingRecursiveGaussianImageFilter.h"
    
    template<class TPixel, unsigned int VDimension>
    void SmoothImage(
        const std::string input, const std::string output, const double sigma
    ) {
        // Read input
        typedef itk::Image<TPixel,VDimension> ImageType;
        typedef itk::ImageFileReader<ImageType> ReaderType;
        ReaderType::Pointer reader = ReaderType::New();
        reader->SetFileName(input);
        reader->Update();
    
        // Apply filter
        typedef itk::SmoothingRecursiveGaussianImageFilter<ImageType> FilterType;
        FilterType::Pointer filter = FilterType::New();
        filter->SetInput(reader->GetOutput());
        filter->SetSigma(sigma);
        filter->Update();
    
        // Write output
        typedef itk::ImageFileWriter<ImageType> WriterType;
        WriterType::Pointer writer = WriterType::New();
        writer->SetInput(filter->GetOutput());
        writer->SetFileName(output);
        writer->Update();
    }
    
    #endif // __example_hxx
    
  6. Create the following example.i file (instructs SWIG how to generate the wrapper):
    // File : example.i
    %module example
    %include "std_string.i"
    
    %{
    #include "example.h"
    %}
    
    %include "example.h"
    
    %template(SmoothImageUC2)SmoothImage<unsigned char, 2>;
    %template(SmoothImageF2) SmoothImage<float, 2>;
    
  7. Run SWIG using the following command: swig -c++ -csharp -dllimport ExampleWrapper example.i
    The following files should be generated:
    • example_wrap.cxx
    • example.cs
    • examplePINVOKE.cs
  8. Run CMake, configure and generate, build the project. The result should be ExampleWrapper.dll
  9. Create the following C# runme.cs file:
    // File: runme.cs
    using System;
    
    public class runme {
        [STAThread()]
        static void Main() {
            try {
                example.SmoothImageUC2(
                    input: "C:/Temp/cthead1.png",
                    output: "C:/Temp/cthead1-smooth.png",
                    sigma: 5.0
                );
            } catch (Exception ex) {
                Console.WriteLine(ex);
            }
        }
    }
    
  10. Build the .NET executable. For Mono use the following: mcs -platform:x86 -target:exe -out:example.exe runme.cs example.cs examplePINVOKE.cs
  11. Run the .NET executable. Make sure it can find ExampleWrapper.dll (the easiest way is to copy the dll to the same folder as example.exe)