1. Method of automatic detection and characterization of nodules (N) in a tomographic image of an anatomical zone of a patient, comprising a segmentation of the image for identifying therein a region of interest (N, V) and the processing of the segmented image for identifying the nodule (N), wherein during the step of processing, an ellipsoid inscribed within the region of interest is modeled, it is decided that the image elements inscribed within this ellipsoid correspond to a nodule and, for each zone of the region of interest extending outside the ellipsoid, the image elements are identified which do not belong to the nodule, according to criteria of mathematical morphology.