Virtual drilling-sculpturing in 3-D volumes

In this paper we propose a virtual drilling-sculpturing algorithm applied on 3-D objects. The 3-D objects can either be simple geometrical shapes such as cubes and spheres or more complicated objects as teeth. In the second case, we consider that we are provided with a sparse set of parallel and equi-distant slices of the 3-D object. With that set of slices we reconstruct the 3-D object using a volumetric interpolation method. On the created volumes, we simulate the drilling action as a 3-D erosion operation. The proposed technique is applied for virtual drilling of teeth considering various bur tools of different shapes as erosion elements. Furthermore, the algorithm has been extended as a virtual sculpturing method that can be applied in many 3-D objects, simulating the action of chisel tools.