METHOD, APPARATUS, SIGNALS, AND MEDIA FOR PRODUCING A COMPUTER REPRESENTATION OF A THREE-DIMENSIONAL SURFACE OF AN APPLIANCE FOR A LIVING BODY

摘要

A method and apparatus for producing a computer representation of a three-dimensional surface of an appliance for a living body is disclosed. The method involves identifying a plurality of spaced apart planes intersecting the three-dimensional surface, and for each plane in the plurality of spaced apart planes identifying a plurality of basis points on the plane. The basis points lie generally along a curve on the plane. The method also involves determining surface coordinate locations of a plurality of points on the plane that lie on the three-dimensional surface, each surface coordinate location being defined as an offset from the basis point, and storing the surface coordinate locations in a computer memory.