  Object detection in astronomical images, generically referred to as source
finding, is often performed before the object characterisation stage in
astrophysical processing work flows. In radio astronomy, source finding has
historically been performed by bespoke off-line systems; however, modern data
acquisition systems as well as those proposed for upcoming observatories such
as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), will make this approach unfeasible. One
area where a change of approach is particularly necessary is in the design of
fast imaging systems for transient studies. This paper presents a number of
advances in accelerating and automating the source finding in such systems.
