Building Three-Dimensional Computer Graphics Surface Models for Anatomy Education Available to Purchase

This paper describes an approach to generating three-dimensional computer graphics images of gross anatomical structures. These images are used in an interactive teaching aid which is currently being developed by the Colorado State University Vesalius Project. Key steps in the generation of these images include acquisition of appropriate anatomical data, the generation of parallel cross-sectional contours, and the creating of rendered surface models of the anatomy by triangulating between these contours. The algorithms involved with these steps are described and several resulting images are presented here. The interactive Hypertext educational system being developed around these images is also briefly discussed.