Non-manifold Mesh Extraction from Time-varying Segmented Volumes used for Modeling a Human Heart

We present a new algorithm extracting and fairing surfaces from segmented volumes composed of multiple materials. In a first pass, the material boundaries in the volume are smoothed considering signed distance functions for the individual materials. Second, we apply a marching-cubes-like contouring method providing initial meshes defining material boundaries. Non-manifold features emerge along lines where more than two materials encounter. Finally, the mesh geometry is relaxed in a constrained fairing process. We use our algorithm to construct a heart model from segmented time-varying magnetic resonance images. Information concerning the heart ontology is used to merge certain structures to functional units.