Week 9: Scaling the Digital Representation of the Model

Last week, I pointed out the numbers MeshLab puts out with its measuring tool are purely arbitrary. This is because the file has no information on the original size of the object. 

After doing some research, I have discovered that there is a way to reorient the MeshLab scale to match real life. Essentially the numbers in the corner are meaningless until they are compared to real life units. 

Since I have been working with models this should be relatively easy to do. I will take measurements on the length and the width of the wound area. 

After I have these, I can divide the numbers by the computers arbitrary scale. This will produce a scale factor I can apply to the model. 

To put this into the program, I will go under filters --> normals, curvatures, and orientation --> transform: scale. By enabling uniform scaling, I will not have to worry about separating the scale into the three axes. 

The next problem I will tackle is trying to find a way to measure depth since it is hard to draw a line from the surface skin to the bottom of the wound. With all this information, I can calculate an approximation of the wound volume.