ShapeWorks

The ShapeWorks software is an open-source implementation of a methodology for constructing compact statistical point-based models of shape called Particle-Based Modeling (PBM). PBM represents shape surface geometry using dynamic particle systems, thus avoiding reliance on any specific shape parameterization. Correspondence-point positions are optimized using an entropy-based minimization that balances the simplicity of the model (compactness) with the accuracy of the surface representations. The entropy-minimization model may also include image- and surface-based features, such as surface curvature information, in order to find better correspondence in complex and varied anatomy. PBM requires very little preprocessing or parameter tuning and has been applied to a wide variety of biomedical shape analysis problems, including neurobiology, genetic phenotyping, orthopedics, and cardiology. The ShapeWorks software includes extensions to the basic PBM optimization to construct joint models of multiple anatomical shapes, regression models, and to specify surface boundaries on shapes, such as cutting planes. ShapeWorks also includes software for visualization and analysis of correspondence models, including a method for estimating very dense correspondence models that are suitable for biomechanical simulation and other computational applications.