Conversion of x, y, z vectors to surf usable matrices (Matlab 2009a)

Hi.

Sorry if the title is a little confusing. I'll try to elaborate in here:

What I have is three vectors, approprietly named x, y, and z. Each element of each vector represents a point on the surface of an object. For example, x(1), y(1), and z(1) represent a location on the surface. The shape itself is unusual and there is no order to the listing of the points (ie not sorted in ascending or decending x, y, or z).

What I'm wondering is if there is way to create three matrices that would reconstruct this object with the surf function.

Thanks for any help that can be provided.

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

No, not with only that information. That is attempting a surface reconstruction from a point cloud. Especially with you saying the shape is unusual, you need to have some kind of rules or data structure about how the points connect to each other.

Some people use "alpha shapes" for surface reconstruction. I'm not sure that would be suitable for your case, but you could look into that.

[Braden]

Thanks.

The image is of a spinal column, something that isn't exactly simple to create a structure for. I'm guessing "alpha shapes" aren't going to be too common for what I'm looking to put together.

Would you have any advice as to other methods or how to create your own "alpha shape"?