US Patent 8213707 System and method for 3D measurement and surface reconstruction

A system and method for measuring and surface reconstruction of a 3D image of an object comprises a projector arranged to project a pattern onto a surface of an object to be imaged; and a processor stage arranged to examine distortion or distortions produced in the pattern by the surface. The processor stage is arranged to convert by, for example, a triangulation process the distortion or distortions produced in the pattern by the surface to a distance representation representative of the shape of the surface. The processor stage is also arranged to reconstruct electronically the surface shape of the object.