Hexahedral mesh generation for biomedical models in SCIRun

Biomedical simulations are often dependent on numerical approximation methods, including finite element, finite difference, and finite volume methods, to model the varied phenomena of interest. An important requirement of the numerical approximation methods above is the need to create a discrete decomposition of the model geometry into a 'mesh'. Historically, the generation of these meshes has been a critical bottleneck in efforts to efficiently generate biomedical simulations which can be utilized in understanding, planning, and diagnosing biomedical conditions. In this paper we discuss a methodology for generating hexahedral meshes for biomedical models using an algorithm implemented in the SCIRun Problem Solving Environment. The method is flexible and can be utilized to build up conformal hexahedral meshes ranging from models defined by single isosurfaces to more complex geometries with multi-surface boundaries.