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A fast marching level set method is presented for monotonically advancing fronts, which leads to an extremely fast scheme for solving the Eikonal equation. Level set methods are numerical techniques for computing the position of propagating fronts. They rely on an initial value partial differential equation for a propagating level set function and use techniques borrowed from hyperbolic conservation laws. Topological changes, corner and cusp development, and accurate determination of geometric properties such as curvature and normal direction are naturally obtained in this setting. This paper describes a particular case of such methods for interfaces whose speed depends only on local position. The technique works by coupling work on entropy conditions for interface motion, the theory of viscosity solutions for Hamilton-Jacobi equations, and fast adaptive narrow band level set methods. The technique is applicable to a variety of problems, including shape-from-shading problems, lithographic development calculations in microchip manufacturing, and arrival time problems in control theory. This paper describes and tests a numerical algorithm for tracking the evolution of interfaces. The technique applies in the case of a front propagating normal to itself with a speed F that depends only on position and is always either positive or negative. The applications of such a technique include some global illumination problems and problems from control theory, as well as surface advancement in lithographic development and isotropic etching and deposition in the manufacturing of microelectronic structures. This scheme was first described in ref. 1; this paper presents the details of this scheme and shows results and timings.Background

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