Estimation of curvature along curves with application to fibres in 3D images of paper

Abstract

Space curves can be used to represent elongated objects in 3D images and furthermore to facilitate the computation of shape measures for the represented objects. In our specific application (fibres in 3D images of paper), we want to analyze the fibre network on a voxel level with respect to elongation and bending. For this purpose, it is of interest to estimate the curvature in each voxel along a curve. We present a new discrete curvature estimator fulfilling the multigrid convergence property. Moreover, we present results from a study where curvature together with other shape measures are used to analyze the fibre network. © Springer-Verlag 2003.