Higher-Order Level-Set Method and Its Application in Biomolecular Surfaces Construction

We present a general framework for a higher-order spline level-set (HLS) method and apply this to biomolecule surfaces construction. Starting from a first order energy functional, we obtain a general level set formulation of geometric partial differential equation, and provide an efficient approach to solving this partial differential equation using a C2 spline basis. We also present a fast cubic spline interpolation algorithm based on convolution and the Z-transform, which exploits the local relationship of interpolatory cubic spline coefficients with respect to given function data values. One example of our HLS method is demonstrated, which is the construction of biomolecule surfaces (an implicit solvation interface) with their individual atomic coordinates and solvated radii as prerequisites.