Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre segmentação de volumes médicos e uma solução para se obter malhas poligonais de pacientes específicos para uso em simulações de cirurgia. Malhas de pacientes específicos são importantes para planejamento de intervenções cirúrgicas e permitem uma melhor visualização de condições patológicas em um paciente, coisa não obtível em malhas geradas artisticamente. Nós analisamos quais são os fatores complicantes para se obter estas malhas de um paciente específico usando apenas imagens médicas obtidas em exames padrões. Para isso, nós revisamos diversos métodos existentes para segmentação de volumes médicos. Isso nos levou a definir os problemas com as técnicas existentes, e a desenvolver um método que não sofra destes problemas, utilizando pouca interação humana e não tendo dependências de mais dados que não o exame do paciente. Nosso alvo para obter malhas especificas foram órgãos de tecido mole, que são um caso especialmente complicado da área, graças a várias questões relacionadas às imagens médicas e à anatomia humana. Atacamos esse problema aplicando modificações geométricas em malhas especiais, que deformam até atingir a forma dos órgãos que se deseja segmentar. Os resultados mostram que nossa técnica conseguiu obter malhas específicas de pacientes a partir de volumes médicos com qualidade superior a de outros algoritmos de mesma classe. Graças a simplicidade do método desenvolvido, nossos resultados são facilmente implementáveis e reproduzidos. / This work presents a study about medical-volume segmentation and a solution to generate patient-specific meshes to use in patient-specific surgery simulations. Patientspecific meshes are useful assets for surgery planning and to allow better visualization of certain pathological conditions of a given patient, which are not obtainable by artistically designed meshes. We analyzed what are the complications to obtain a patient-specific mesh using only standard medical imagery exams. For that, we reviewed several medical volume segmentation techniques. It led us to define the problems within the existing techniques and to develop a method that does not suffer from these problems, with the least possible user interaction or relying on any other data other then the patient exam. Our target for obtaining specific meshes were soft tissue organs, which are a specially complicated case due to various issues related to the medical images and human anatomy. This is accomplished by geometrical operations over special meshes that deform until achieving the shape of the desired organ. Results show that our technique was able to obtain patient-specific meshes from medical images with superior quality than algorithms of the same class. Thanks to the simplicity of the developed approach, its also easy to implement and to reproduce our obtained results.

Dans cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés au problème de l'extraction d'une surface à partir de la représentation volumique d'un objet. Dans ce but, nous nous sommes concentrés sur les méthodes de division spatiale. Ces approches divisent le volume afin de construire une approximation par morceaux de la surface de l'objet. L'idée générale consiste à faire des approximations surfaciques locales qui seront ensuite combinées pour extraire une surface unique représentant l'objet. Les approches basées sur l'algorithme " Marching Cubes " (MC) présentent des défaut par rapport à la qualité et l'adaptativité de la surface produite. Même si une considérable quantité d'améliorations ont été apportées à la méthode originale, la plus grande partie des algorithmes fournissent la solution à un ou deux défauts mais n'arrivent pas à surmonter toutes ses limitations.Les méthodes duales sont plus adaptées pour utiliser un échantillonnage adaptatif sur le volume d'intérêt. Ces méthodes reposent sur la génération de surfaces duales à celles construites par MC ou se basent sur des grilles duales. Elles construisent des maillages moins denses et en même temps capables de mieux approcher les détails de l'objet. De plus, des améliorations récentes garantissent que les maillages extraits ont de bonnes propriétés topologiques et géométriques.Nous avons étudié les caractéristiques spécifiques des objets volumiques par rapport à leur géométrie et à leur topologie. Nous avons exploré l'état de l'art sur les approches de division spatiale afin d'identifier leurs avantages et leurs inconvénients ainsi que les implications de leur utilisation sur des objets volumiques. Nous avons conclu qu'une approche duale était la mieux adaptée pour obtenir un bon compromis entre qualité du maillage et qualité de l'approximation. Dans un second temps, nous avons proposé et développé un pipeline de génération de surfaces basé sur une combinaison d'une approche duale et de la recherche de composantes connexes n-dimensionnels pour mieux reproduire la topologie et la géométrie des objets originels. Dans un troisième temps, nous avons présenté une extension "out-of-core" de notre chaîne de traitements pour l'extraction des surfaces à partir de grands volumes. Le volume est divisé pour générer des morceaux de surface de manière indépendante et garde l'information nécessaire pour les connecter afin de produire une surface unique topologiquement correcte.L'approche utilisée permet de paralléliser le traitement pour accélérer l'obtention de la surface. Les tests réalisés ont permis de valider la méthode sur des données volumiques massives. / In this document, we have been interested in the surface extraction from the volumetric representation of an object. With this objective in mind, we have studied the spatial subdivision surface extraction algorithms. This approaches divide the volume in order to build a piecewise approximation of the surface. The general idea is to combine local and simple approximations to extract a complete representation of the object's surface.The methods based on the Marching Cubes (MC) algorithm have problems to produce good quality and to handle adaptive surfaces. Even if a lot of improvements to MC have been proposed, these approaches solved one or two problems but they don't offer a complete solution to all the MC drawbacks. Dual methods are more adapted to use adaptive sampling over volumes. These methods generate surfaces that are dual to those generated by the Marching Cubes algorithm or dual grids in order to use MC methods. These solutions build adaptive meshes that represent well the features of the object. In addition, recent improvements guarantee that the produced meshes have good geometrical and topological properties.In this dissertation, we have studied the main topological and geometrical properties of volumetric objects. In a first stage, we have explored the state of the art on spatial subdivision surface extraction methods in order to identify theirs advantages, theirs drawbacks and the implications of theirs application on volumetric objects. We have concluded that a dual approach is the best option to obtain a good compromise between mesh quality and geometrical approximation. In a second stage, we have developed a general pipeline for surface extraction based on a combination of dual methods and connected components extraction to better capture the topology and geometry of the original object. In a third stage, we have presented an out-of-core extension of our surface extraction pipeline in order to extract adaptive meshes from huge volumes. Volumes are divided in smaller sub-volumes that are processed independently to produce surface patches that are later combined in an unique and topologically correct surface. This approach can be implemented in parallel to speed up its performance. Test realized in a vast set of volumes have confirmed our results and the features of our solution.

Apresenta-se um pré-processador para análise de pavimentos de edifícios via método dos elementos finitos desenvolvido como um aplicativo do ambiente Windows. O programa é interativo, permitindo identificar problemas de imediato na criação do modelo a ser estudado. Possui recursos gráficos básicos para a definição geométrica da estrutura. A saída de dados é programável para que o pré-processador não se prenda a um só programa de cálculo. Assim, os mesmos dados de uma estrutura podem ser analisados por diferentes programas de cálculo o que possibilita a escolha do programa mais adequado, dependendo do tipo de análise desejado. O aplicativo tem recursos para definir elementos finitos de barra e placa. Como o número desses elementos normalmente é grande, eles são gerados de uma forma automatizada. / lt is presenting a Windows preprocessar for building slab analysis by Finite Element Method. lt is an interactive program, allowing problems to be identified while the model is generated. It has graphical resources to define the structure. The program output is defined by the user; therefore it is possible to use the preprocessar with many other finite element programs. This allows the engineer to choose the appropriate program depending on the kind of analysis is wanted. The program can define frame and shell finite elements. As slabs usually need large numbers of these elements to be properly analyzed, they are generated using automatic meshing.

Estruturas de dados (ED) topológicas oferecem diversas vantagens quando se deseja executarumadeformação sobreumamalha. Essas EDs permitem movimentar os nós da malha sem modificar sua topologia, são relativamente simples de seremimplementadas e também são passíveis de serem incorporadas a um ciclo simulação/deformação de forma completamente automática e eficiente. O primeiro objetivo deste trabalho é a concepção de uma ED topológica para representação de malhas elásticas. Tais malhas podem ser do tipo superficial ou volumétrica, e ainda simples ou mista. Para melhor desempenho, confiabilidade e menor consumo de memória, deseja-se que a ED seja implícita quanto à representação de componentes incidentes e adjacentes dos elementos presentes na malha. Outro objetivo deste trabalho é abordar o problema de geração de malhas em domínios arbitrários definidos por uma função implícita. O método proposto é uma extensão do algoritmo de Partição da Unidade Implícita (PUI). Para isso, o método proposto é baseado numa abordagem de preenchimento de superfícies. Este método proposto gera adaptativamente tetraedros em diferentes níveis de refinamento de acordo com o nível de detalhe presente na região do domínio. Diferentemente de trabalhos anteriores, esta característica é feita naturalmente sem necessitar de uma estrutura auxiliar. Para este fim, usa-se uma estrutura algébrica chamada de triangulação Ja1 que é capaz de lidar com tais refinamentos. Além do mais, a triangulação Ja1 permite que se percorra a estrutura simplesmente através de regras algébricas que é uma outra vantagem do método proposto / Topological data Structures (DS) oer several advantages when performing a deformation on a mesh. These DSs allow movement throughout the mesh without modifying its topology, are relatively simple to implement, and there is always the possibility of merging it to simulation/deformation cycle on a completely automatic and ecient form. The main goal of this work is to design and implement a topological DS to represent elastic meshes. These meshes can be either of surface or volume kind, and even simple or mixed. For better performance, more reliability and lower memory consumption, it is necessary that the DSs allow the representation of incident and adjacent components of a given element to be implicit. The second objective to this work is to tackle the problem of mesh generation on arbitrary domains defined by implicit functions. The proposed method is an extension to the algorithm of Partition of Unity Implicits (PUI). For this the proposed method is based on an isosurface stung approach. It adaptively generates the tetrahedra in dierent levels of refinement accordingly to the level of detail presented by the regions of the domain. Dierently to previous work, this feature is done naturally without the aid of an auxiliary data structure. To this end, we use an algebraic structure, named Ja1 triangulation, which is capable of dealing with such refinements. In addition, the Ja1 triangulation permits traversing through the mesh by simply using algebraic rules which is another advantage to the proposed method

In order to prepare modern finite element analysis a program for the efficient parallel generation of tetrahedral meshes in a wide class of three dimensional domains having a generalized cylindric shape is presented. The applied mesh generation strategy is based on the decomposition of some 2D-reference domain into single con- nected subdomains by means of its triangulations the tetrahedral layers are built up in parallel. Adaptive grid controlling as well as nodal renumbering algorithms are involved. In the paper several examples are incorporated to demonstrate both program's capabilities and the handling with.

Dois métodos distintos são descritos e implementados. O primeiro método, proposto por Ruppert, possui garantias teóricas de qualidade quando a fronteira do domínio obedece certas restrições. O segundo método, proposto por Persson, possibilita um maior controle na densidade dos elementos que discretizam o domínio. As vantagens, desvantagens e particularidades de cada um dos métodos são descritas e detalhadas / Two distinct methods are described and implemented. The first method, proposed by Ruppert, has theoretical guarantees on the quality of elements when the domain boundaries respect certain restrictions. The second method, proposed by Persson, makes it possible to have greater control over the density of the elements that make up the domain. The advantages, disadvantages and specific points about each method are described and detailed

The enhancement of node projection techniques in sweeping is the subject of this thesis. Sweeping is a method used to produce all-hexahedral finite element meshes on certain classes of geometry. The placement of nodes in the interior of the geometry during the sweeping process remains a difficult problem. This thesis presents advancements in this area which improve the speed of the algorithm and the resulting element quality. A comparison of existing projection methods was performed. The existing Faceted projection sweeping method was extended to be applicable to more general classes of sweepable geometry. This comparison and extension of node projection algorithms led to the development of a new node projection technique: the SmartAffine method. This method builds on previous techniques and is characterized by its speed. Finally, a technique for coupling node projection techniques is presented. This technique characterizes the complexity of the sweepable geometry and applies the most appropriate node projection scheme. This is accomplished without user interaction and improves the speed of the sweeping algorithm and the quality of swept meshes.

[pt] Malhas são amplamente usadas na discretização de domínios geométricos em aplicações na engenharia, como simulações de fluxo, transmissão de calor e deformação mecânica. O problema de geração de malhas é bem conhecido e estudado, mas a geração automática de malhas para um domínio físico com geometrias complexas, criando elementos que obedeçam a forma do objeto, e de tamanho e qualidade adequados, ainda é um desafio. Neste trabalho, foram estudados e implementados métodos para gerar malhas com restrições arbitrárias. O gerador implementado é do tipo de Delaunay, que constrói malhas Delaunay com restrições, e utiliza as propriedades da malha para inserir novos vértices e melhorar a qualidade dos elementos. / [en] Meshes are widely used in the discretization of geometric domains for engineering applications such as fluid flow simulator, heat transfer simulations and mechanical deformation. The mesh generation problem is well known and studied, nevertheless the automatic generation of meshes to domains with complex geometry, creating elements that conform to the forms, and of adequate size and quality, is still a challenge. In this work, mesh generation methods capable of generation mesh of arbitrary restrictions were studied and implemented. The implemented generator is a Delaunay generator, which constructs constrained Delaunay meshes, and utilizes the properties of the mesh to insert new vertices and improve the quality of the elements.

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