Application of Spherical Harmonics to the Modeling of Anatomical Shapes

Abstract

3D shape modeling is a key issue in the resolution of major medical imaging problems. In this paper we address the problem of the modeling of closed free form anatomical shapes with spherical harmonics. We define the basis of an ongoing project by illustrating, through two preliminary applications, the interest of such a modeling. After the presentation of spherical harmonics, both for static modeling and for time-dependent modeling, applications to the modeling and deformation analysis of the vertebra shape from CT data, and to the modeling of the endocardial surface from SPECT data are successively depicted.