Rationale For Surface Extraction From Solid Three Dimensional Volume Images

In many clinical fields (e.g. craniofacial surgery), the subject of interest is the surface of only one type of body tissue. Volume images of the overlying soft tissue merely obscure the subject. Further in surgical simulation programs used in these disciplines, interactivity is of paramount importance. The relative simplicity of the surface image makes real time image generation more tractable. Further surface normal calculations may be combined with a good lighting model for extremely realistic images. Surface extractions are a requirement for statistical comparisons of volume images with a normative data set.