Applying the sophisticated principles of stereo photogrammetry, 3dMD over the past decade has developed a highly flexible, proprietary surface imaging technology that generates an anatomically-accurate digital model of the patient’s surface. Stereo photogrammetry, which is far superior to existing surface capture techniques, uses a common technique of stereo triangulation to identify unique external surface features viewed from at least two cameras views.

The company takes two basic approaches to stereo photogrammetry.

The first approach, passive stereo, is suited to human form capture applications as the skin has a unique random pattern, which consists of skin pores, freckles, etc, that can be used to triangulate the geometry from each surface point. In practical terms passive stereo has three drawbacks, it requires carefully controlled lighting conditions, expensive high-resolution cameras, and the ability to handle large amounts of sensor data. Nevertheless this solution has been effectively deployed with stunning results by 3Q inc, 3dMD’s sister company, in high-end film production studios such as current customer, Walt Disney Feature Animation.

3dMD generally approaches most applications of stereo photogrammetry using an active stereo technique. Instead of only using the person’s natural skin patterns, this approach incorporates projecting a unique random light pattern that is used as the foundation for triangulating the geometry in 3D. Active stereo tends to be more resilient to variances in lighting conditions and enables the use of a wider range of camera sensors because the controlled random texture is momentarily projected onto the surface of the subject.

In summary, 3dMD’s technology is easy-to-use, non-invasive and captures superior quality “external surface” images in ~1.5 milliseconds per frame and then processes the data, creating a highly precise 3D digital model of the patient that is ready for immediate clinical use. The company’s 3dMDface™, 3dMDcranial™, and 3dMDtorso™ Systems also include a variety of application-specific analysis packages that can be used to assess the patient’s 3D surface data. This enables users to easily collect and apply 3dMD’s patient data.