Abstract
This paper describes a process which is used to generate three-dimensional computer graphics surface models of gross anatomical structures. Key steps in the generation of these models include acquiring 2D cross-sectional data from macrocryotome slicing, generating 2D cross section contours from edge detection and region segmentation, generating a polygonal mesh surface model by triangulating between the 2D contours, and interactive sculpting of the 3D surface for editing and changing the appearance of the model. The algorithms and development involved with these steps are briefly described here and several images resulting from the process are presented. The main purpose of the paper is not to present the details of implementation of the various algorithms, but rather to present the overall methodology and illustrate the results. Implementation details can be found in other papers referenced here. The most recent results of our efforts, which are presented here, are 3D surface models of the complete human thorax. These models have numerous applications in anatomy and biomechanics visualization and teaching.
