import numpy as np

# credits to https://stackoverflow.com/users/6076729/manuel-lagunas
def rle_encode(mask_image):
    pixels = mask_image.flatten()
    # We avoid issues with '1' at the start or end (at the corners of
    # the original image) by setting those pixels to '0' explicitly.
    # We do not expect these to be non-zero for an accurate mask,
    # so this should not harm the score.
    pixels[0] = 0
    pixels[-1] = 0
    runs = np.where(pixels[1:] != pixels[:-1])[0] + 2
    runs[1::2] = runs[1::2] - runs[:-1:2]
    return runs