--- a
+++ b/combinedDeepLearningActiveContour/functions/mask2phi.m
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+%-- converts a mask to a Signed Distance Function (SDF)
+
+function phi = mask2phi(mask,m_cnt,I)
+
+if nargin==3
+    [x_max, y_max]=size(I);
+    M=size(mask,1);
+    
+    mask2=zeros(x_max,y_max);
+    
+% coordinates of the top and bottom corners
+    m_cnt_y=m_cnt(1);
+    m_cnt_x=m_cnt(2);    
+    
+% top left corner
+    x1=m_cnt_x-M/2;
+    y1=m_cnt_y-M/2;
+
+% bottom right corner
+    x4=m_cnt_x+M/2-1;
+    y4=m_cnt_y+M/2-1;
+
+    mask2(y1:y4,x1:x4)=mask;
+    mask=mask2;
+end    
+    phi=bwdist(mask)-bwdist(1-mask)+im2double(mask)-.5;
+ 
+end  
\ No newline at end of file