Generating smooth surface meshes from labelled medical datasets

In this article, an innovative procedure to create high quality triangular meshes from medical scans is proposed. The approach is based on an enhanced Marching Tetrahedra algorithm that extracts a consistent multiple region surface mesh from a labelled volume data set; coupled with a surface reconstruction method to avoid typical staircase artifacts. Mesh smoothing and decimation algorithms are also revised to conform to the multiple material nature of the system as well as to adhere to the underlying volume data. The proposed method is well suited for subsequent volume mesh generation and finite element simulations.