Helical / Spiral Vessel Mesh Generator

This small Python project generates 3D helical vessel meshes and can produce "spiral artery" variants where the helix radius changes along revolutions.

Files

• spiral.py: Main module. Contains the VesselMesh class with methods to generate, visualize, and export meshes (OBJ, ASCII STL).
• helical_vessel.obj / helical_vessel.stl: Example outputs produced by running the script.
• spiral_artery.obj / spiral_artery.stl: Example outputs produced by running the script.

Dependencies

• Python 3.8+
• numpy
• matplotlib

Install dependencies (recommended in a virtual environment):

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install numpy matplotlib

Basic usage

Run the script (this will generate and export example meshes):

python3 spiral.py

This writes helical_vessel.obj, helical_vessel.stl, spiral_artery.obj, and spiral_artery.stl to the script's current working directory.

Running without opening GUI windows

If you run on a headless machine or want to avoid opening GUI windows and related macOS IMK log lines, set the matplotlib backend to Agg or use the environment variable:

MPLBACKEND=Agg python3 spiral.py

Or edit spiral.py near the top and add:

import matplotlib
matplotlib.use('Agg')
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

API (quick)

from spiral import VesselMesh
# helical (constant radius)
v = VesselMesh(mode='helical')
v.generate_mesh()
v.visualize()

# spiral artery (radius varies along the helix; taper optionally reduces cross-section)
s = VesselMesh(mode='spiral', radius_variation= -2.0, taper_ratio=0.2)
s.generate_mesh()
s.visualize()

Notes and tips

• Outputs are written to the current working directory by default. Use absolute paths or create an output/ folder for organization.
• The mode parameter accepts helical (constant radius) or spiral (radius changes along revolutions). radius_variation is the total radial change across the full helix; taper_ratio optionally reduces the cross-section radius along the helix.

License

• This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for full terms. If you use this code in research, please cite the project (CITATION.cff) and contact the authors: Leo Liu et al. leo.liu@eng.famu.fsu.edu.