Patent ID: 7623702

Claim:
A method of reconstructing a surface shape of an object from a plurality of contour lines, comprising: obtaining a plurality of contour lines by scanning an object to obtain scan data and segmenting the scan data; assigning points, by a computer, to each of the plurality of contour lines obtained from the segmented scan data of the object, wherein each of the contour lines is closed and non-intersecting with respect to others of the contour lines; performing a first triangulation scheme with respect to respective points on two adjacently-positioned contour lines by the computer, to determine a first surface shape for a portion of the object corresponding to the two adjacently-positioned contour lines; checking the first surface shape, by the computer, to determine if the first surface shape is in error; if the first surface shape is not in error, outputting the first surface shape for the portion of the object as determined by the computer using the first triangulation scheme, as a reconstructed surface shape for the portion of the object; and if the first surface shape is in error, performing a second triangulation scheme with respect to the respective points on the two adjacently-positioned contour lines by the computer, to determine a second surface shape for the portion of the object corresponding to the two adjacently-positioned contour lines; and outputting the second surface shape for the portion of the object as determined by the computer using the second triangulation scheme, as a reconstructed surface shape for the portion of the object.