Hello, I am working on analysing the shape of the human cochlea, the shell-like organ of hearing in the middle ear.
The cochlea has some interesting properties. It resembles an Archimedean spiral tube, and has been approximated as an exponential curve. The cross-section resembles a cardioid, or rounded "B" shape. The goal is to build a 3D parametric model of the cochlea (by analysing CT scans), which captures the curved path, the cross-sectional shape, and how it varies along the path. Existing models are simple space-curves, which are of limited clinical use. There are few useful anatomical landmarks that are available for such analysis, especially those which are discernible in a CT scan. So landmark-based analysis (Procrustes et al) is not really applicable, AFAICT. It is possible to extract some geometric landmarks, and lots of semilandmarks (both around the cross-section and along the tube). Can anyone suggest any good papers on the subject of 3D shape analysis, and working with semilandmarks? Any suggestions or comments on the above most welcome too. Thanks - :: Gavin -- Gavin Baker Complex Systems Group http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~gavinb The University of Melbourne
