PROSOPON: A virtual anatomical 3D head model

In this paper, a new high-resolution model of a virtual human head is introduced, aiming to build an educational tool for anatomy studies of the head, oral/nasal cavities and teeth. The human head model is based on anatomical data provided by Visible Human Project. Firstly, anatomical structures' contours were extracted on head slices in a semi-automatic way. Secondly, morphological operations were applied in the extracted contours for smoothing the anatomical structure volume. For anatomical structure surface extraction, Discretized Marching Cubes were employed. One hundred thirteen head anatomical structures have been segmented and modeled. The basic aim of the created head model is to be used for head anatomy training and for creating virtual medical/dental patients.