3D Shape Modelling through a Constrained Estimation of a Bicubic B-spline Surface

This paper presents a new method to extract the 3D shape of objects from 3D gray level images using a bicubic B-spline surface model. Extraction of object shape is achieved through a hierarchical surface fitting by exploiting the multi-scale representation of the model. A strategy for converting the surface estimation into curve estimations is devised. The model surface is estimated by successively computing a set of cubic B-spline curves consisting of a coordinate curve net defining the surface. A regularising component is incorporated into the curve estimation to encourage the generation of an orthogonal coordinate curve net, preventing the creation of unwanted creases. Experimental results are presented for extracting the 3D shape of objects from real 3D images.