morphomap

morphomap extracts and quantifies long bone shape, cortical thickness distributions, and cross-sectional geometric parameters from oriented 3D meshes to support geometric morphometrics and biomechanical inference.

Key Features:

• Semilandmark Extraction: Places semilandmarks on inner (endosteal) and outer (periosteal) contours across multiple virtual sections along the diaphysis.
• Cortical Thickness Mapping: Generates two-dimensional and three-dimensional cortical thickness maps from an oriented 3D mesh input.
• Cross-Sectional Geometry Computation: Computes cross-sectional geometric parameters, including area moments of inertia, from virtual sections.
• Integrated Modules: Implements modules for placement of semilandmarks, extraction of cortical thicknesses for morphometric mapping, and computation of cross-sectional geometry parameters.

Scientific Applications:

• Osteoarchaeology: Enables quantitative analyses of long bone morphology in osteoarchaeological samples.
• Comparative Anatomy: Supports analyses of femora from species such as Homo sapiens and Pan troglodytes to investigate functional morphology and evolutionary adaptations.
• Biomechanical Inference: Facilitates inference of bone loading history and mechanical performance, including resistance to bending and torsion, using cortical thickness distributions and area moments of inertia.
• Large-scale Morphometric Studies: Permits extraction of morphometric and biomechanical datasets from single 3D meshes for comparative or population-scale studies.

Methodology:

Creates evenly spaced virtual sections along the diaphysis of an oriented 3D mesh, places semilandmarks on endosteal and periosteal contours of those sections, extracts morphometric data, generates 2D and 3D cortical thickness maps, and computes cross-sectional geometry parameters including area moments of inertia.