A new modeling algorithm for implicit surface polygonalization

We propose a new implicit surface polygonalization algorithm based on front propagation. The algorithm starts from a simple seed (e.g. a triangle) that can be automatically initialized, and always enlarges its boundary contour outwards along its tangent direction suggested by the underlying volume data. Our algorithm can conduct mesh optimization and Laplacian smoothing on-the-fly and generate meshes of much higher quality than the Marching-cubes algorithm. Experimental results on both real and synthetic volumetric datasets are shown to demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of the new algorithm.