1. A method for segmenting an object of interest in a digitally-encoded image using a computing device, the method comprising: designing a non-linear local function that generates function values associated with identifying the object of interest encoded in digital image data and a combination function that combines the function values; forming orthogonal projections of the digital image data using the computing device, the orthogonal projections based on the function values and the combination function; based on the orthogonal projections, determining boundaries segmenting the object in the digital image data using the computing device; and extracting an image of the object that lies within the boundaries using the computing device.