thickness map of a 3D object

Posted by mario on
URL: http://imagej.273.s1.nabble.com/thickness-map-of-a-3D-object-tp5018255.html

I need to extract a thickness map from a 3D object on an arbitrary projection. With thickness I mean the depth of the object along the directio perpendicular to the plane of the sheet.

I'll try to explain in more detail with an example (see figure):

In general an image of a 3D object is a projection along z coordinate. For each point (x,y) we have a different level of gray (or colour) and this gives the rapresentation of the 3d object.

On the left image three different color (gray level) are associated to the three faces (A,B and C), this depending on the orientation of the faces in respect to the light source.

On the right image (the image I’m interested on) to each p(x,y) point it is associated a grey level that depends on the object thickness along z. For example along the point p1(x1,y1) the object is thicker than along p2(x2,y2) and for this reason in p1 is brighter than p2. If we move on the edge the object is very thin and the points became darker (for example p3)

Is there a rapresentation that gives this kind of image or there is a way to ectract the thickness information along a coordinate?
Thanks