Interactive deformation of structurally complex heart models constructed from medical images

We present a data structure for interactive deformation of complicated organ models, such as hearts, and a technique for automatically constructing the data structure from given medical images. The data structure is a dual model comprising of a graph structure for elastic simulation and a surface mesh for visualization. The system maps the simulation results to the mesh using a skinning technique. First, the system generates a dense graph and mesh from input medical images; then, it independently reduces them. Finally, the system establishes correspondence between the reduced graph and mesh by backtracking the reduction process. We also present an interactive browser for exploring heart shapes, and report initial feedback from target users.