The mesh model is rotated to a viewing angle and each surface tile is shaded according to the position of the light source and the viewer's eye. Solid modeling represents the object as a discrete volume. Voxels are stacked upon one another and the intensity is computed and applied to the stack. Using this approach, volumes are constructed around contours using Delunay and Voronoi diagrams. Intersection planes between contours and volumes are identified and surface tiles are carved from these intersections.
Tiles are depth sorted and the resulting surface is rendered.
Computerized reconstruction facilitates morphometric analysis of histological structures not otherwise observable. SURFdriver arose out of these earlier versions and has been adopted by a wide array of users in both academic and commercial settings. The software consists of data acquisition and display routines. The data acquisition program enables image loading and the establishment of a scaling function based on units selected by the user. SURFdriver transparently manipulates image size and placement, as well as the vertex coordinate system on the images, to ensure continuity of the anatomical objects as they are reconstructed.