Visualizing morphogenesis and growth by temporal interpolation of surface-based 3D atlases

Image-based 3D atlases have been proven to be very useful in biological and medical research. They serve as spatial reference systems that enable researchers to integrate experimental data in a spatially coherent way and thus to relate diverse data from different experiments. Typically such atlases consist of tissue-separating surfaces. The next step are 4D atlases that provide insight into temporal development and spatio- temporal relationships. Such atlases are based on time series of 3D images and related 3D models. We present work on temporal interpolation between such 3D atlases. Due to the morphogenesis of tissues during biological development, the topology of the non-manifold surfaces may vary between subsequent time steps. For animation therefore a smooth morphing between non-manifold surfaces with different topology is needed.