This paper describes a defect detection method which automatically extracts defect information from complicated background LSI patterns. Based on a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image, the defects on the wafer are characterized in terms of their locations, sizes and the shape of defects. For this purpose, two image processing techniques, the Hough transform and wavelet transform, have been employed. Especially, the Hough Transform for circles is applied to non-circular defects for estimating the shapes of defects. By experiments, it has been demonstrated that the system is very effective in defect identification and will be used as an integral part in future automatic defect pattern classification systems.