Editing Solid modeling (section)

=== Medical solid modeling ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2012}}
Modern [[computed axial tomography]] and [[magnetic resonance imaging]] scanners can be used to create solid models of internal body features called [[voxel]]-based models, with images generated using [[volume rendering]]. Optical [[3D scanners]] can be used to create point clouds or polygon mesh models of external body features.

Uses of medical solid modeling;
* Visualization
* Visualization of specific body tissues (just blood vessels and tumor, for example)
* Designing [[prosthetics]], [[orthotics]], and other medical and dental devices (this is sometimes called [[mass customization]])
* Creating [[polygon mesh]] models for [[rapid prototyping]] (to aid surgeons preparing for difficult surgeries, for example)
* Combining polygon mesh models with [[Computer-aided design|CAD]] solid modeling (design of hip replacement parts, for example)
* Computational analysis of complex biological processes, e.g. air flow, blood flow
* Computational simulation of new medical devices and implants ''in vivo''

If the use goes beyond visualization of the scan data, processes like [[image segmentation]] and [[image-based meshing]] will be necessary to generate an accurate and realistic geometrical description of the scan data.