Question: Converting Anysurf-bone-files back to STL and use them in CAD

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1

From:
Niclas Wetzel
FH Aachen

My Problem:
I want to use the bone-files in the BRep of the repository
and add the foramina transversaria at the cervical spine bones by
CAD.

The format of the files is Anysurf. They are included in the main-
programme by the command AnyDrawSurf (instead of AnyDrawSTL).

My question:
How can I transfer them back to STL-format and load the file(s) in a
CAD-system ? The CAD-System can`t load the Anysurf-format, it needs
STL or at least another CAD-file-format (IGES, etc).

Any I-DEAS :wink: ?

Thanks for your answers,
Niclas Wetzel

2

Hi Niclas

It is not possible to convert the files from AnySurf to STL. Instead
you might solve your problem by including an extra surface for the
display of foramina transversaria. This could be done by adding an
extra AnyDrawSurf for the foramina transversaria, where the surface
file for thorax is included (BRep/Aalborg/Spine/SegmentsThorax.any).
There is no limit on the amount of surface files which can be added
to one segment.

Best regards
Søren
AnyBody Support

— In anyscript@yahoogroups.com, “niclaswetzel”
<niclas.wetzel@u…> wrote:
>
>
> From:
> Niclas Wetzel
> FH Aachen
>
> My Problem:
> I want to use the bone-files in the BRep of the repository
> and add the foramina transversaria at the cervical spine bones by
> CAD.
>
> The format of the files is Anysurf. They are included in the main-
> programme by the command AnyDrawSurf (instead of AnyDrawSTL).
>
> My question:
> How can I transfer them back to STL-format and load the file(s) in
a
> CAD-system ? The CAD-System can`t load the Anysurf-format, it
needs
> STL or at least another CAD-file-format (IGES, etc).
>
> Any I-DEAS :wink: ?
>
> Thanks for your answers,
> Niclas Wetzel

3

Thanks for your answer, S("o+/")ren.
(What`s the hell is the correct ASCII-Code for the Danish "ö"/oe ?)

My problem is, that I want to simulate the stretching of the Arteria
vertebralis, which ascends through the Foramina transversaria, the
holes lateral in the cervical spine bones from C6 up to C1.

The Foramen transversarium is missing on both sides of the bones in
the file ThoraxSeg of your BRep. That`s why I wanted to add/drill the
holes by CAD.

I`m not sure how I can add the holes in the bones by adding/including
another surface file according to your answer. Must I build a solid
block in CAD with a hole in it, convert the file to STL/Anysurf-Format
and, after "including", find the correct position of the "hole block"
corresponding to the bones of the ThoraxSeg-file? Sounds a little bit
complicatd.

Afterwards I will have to model my Arteria vertebralis and implement
it at the correct position on its way through the holes in C6-C1.

It would be much easier, if I could do the job by CAD, because I have
the dimensions/positions of the holes corresponding to the bones from
literature. With the holes directly in the bones, the positioning of
the arteria would be easier, because you could see if the position
differs from the correct hole position visible in the model.

Is it not possible to get the bone-files (ThoraxSeg) for the cervical
spine in STL (or another CAD format) from your company?

Thanks for your answers, help and I-deas,
Niclas Wetzel

--- In anyscript@yahoogroups.com, "AnyBody Support" <support@a...> wrote:

Hi Niclas

It is not possible to convert the files from AnySurf to STL. Instead
you might solve your problem by including an extra surface for the
display of foramina transversaria. This could be done by adding an
extra AnyDrawSurf for the foramina transversaria, where the surface
file for thorax is included (BRep/Aalborg/Spine/SegmentsThorax.any).
There is no limit on the amount of surface files which can be added
to one segment.

Best regards
Søren
AnyBody Support

--- In anyscript@yahoogroups.com, "niclaswetzel"
<niclas.wetzel@u...> wrote:

From:
Niclas Wetzel
FH Aachen

My Problem:
I want to use the bone-files in the BRep of the repository
and add the foramina transversaria at the cervical spine bones by
CAD.

The format of the files is Anysurf. They are included in the main-
programme by the command AnyDrawSurf (instead of AnyDrawSTL).

My question:
How can I transfer them back to STL-format and load the file(s) in
a
CAD-system ? The CAD-System can`t load the Anysurf-format, it
> needs
> > STL or at least another CAD-file-format (IGES, etc).
> >
> > Any I-DEAS :wink: ?
> >
> > Thanks for your answers,
> > Niclas Wetzel

4

Hello Niclas,

You are right that it is not possible to add a hole to an AnySurf
file. I think Soeren may have mistaken your question for the desire
to add a condyle or some other bony part.

Anyway, it is possible to convert an AnySurf file to something more
standardized but it will require yoo to write your own little piece
of code in some programming language. An AnySurf file is on ascii
text format, and its structure is really simple. It is much like a
finite element mesh with the node coordinates listed first and the
element definitions afterwards.

You will notice that there are six columns for the nodes. You only
need the first three, which are the spatial coodinates. Similerly,
you only need the first three integer columns of the element
definitions. The remaining data is only used for rendering and muscle
wrapping purposes.

Best regards,
John

--- In anyscript@yahoogroups.com, "niclaswetzel" <niclas.wetzel@u...>
wrote:
>
>
> Thanks for your answer, S("o+/")ren.
> (What`s the hell is the correct ASCII-Code for the Danish "ö"/oe ?)

My problem is, that I want to simulate the stretching of the Arteria
vertebralis, which ascends through the Foramina transversaria, the
holes lateral in the cervical spine bones from C6 up to C1.

The Foramen transversarium is missing on both sides of the bones in
the file ThoraxSeg of your BRep. Thats why I wanted to add/drill the &gt; holes by CAD. &gt; &gt; Im not sure how I can add the holes in the bones by
adding/including
another surface file according to your answer. Must I build a solid
block in CAD with a hole in it, convert the file to STL/Anysurf-
Format
and, after "including", find the correct position of the "hole
block"
corresponding to the bones of the ThoraxSeg-file? Sounds a little
bit
complicatd.

Afterwards I will have to model my Arteria vertebralis and implement
it at the correct position on its way through the holes in C6-C1.

It would be much easier, if I could do the job by CAD, because I
have
the dimensions/positions of the holes corresponding to the bones
from
literature. With the holes directly in the bones, the positioning of
the arteria would be easier, because you could see if the position
differs from the correct hole position visible in the model.

Is it not possible to get the bone-files (ThoraxSeg) for the
cervical
spine in STL (or another CAD format) from your company?

Thanks for your answers, help and I-deas,
Niclas Wetzel

--- In anyscript@yahoogroups.com, "AnyBody Support" <support@a...>
wrote:

Hi Niclas

It is not possible to convert the files from AnySurf to STL.
Instead
you might solve your problem by including an extra surface for
the
display of foramina transversaria. This could be done by adding
an
extra AnyDrawSurf for the foramina transversaria, where the
surface
file for thorax is included
(BRep/Aalborg/Spine/SegmentsThorax.any).
There is no limit on the amount of surface files which can be
added
to one segment.

Best regards
Søren
AnyBody Support

--- In anyscript@yahoogroups.com, "niclaswetzel"
<niclas.wetzel@u...> wrote:

From:
Niclas Wetzel
FH Aachen

My Problem:
I want to use the bone-files in the BRep of the repository
and add the foramina transversaria at the cervical spine bones
by
CAD.

The format of the files is Anysurf. They are included in the
main-
programme by the command AnyDrawSurf (instead of AnyDrawSTL).

My question:
How can I transfer them back to STL-format and load the file(s)
in
a
CAD-system ? The CAD-System can`t load the Anysurf-format, it
> > needs
> > > STL or at least another CAD-file-format (IGES, etc).
> > >
> > > Any I-DEAS :wink: ?
> > >
> > > Thanks for your answers,
> > > Niclas Wetzel