From the documentation to cv::findContours:
The function retrieves contours from the binary image using the algorithm [Suzuki85]. The contours are a useful tool for shape analysis and object detection and recognition.
And:
[Suzuki85] Satoshi Suzuki and others. Topological structural analysis of digitized binary images by border following. Computer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing, 30(1):32–46, 1985.
The DOI for this paper is 10.1016/0734-189X(85)90016-7
