CLAW: a Phase Differentiation and Biomechanical Modeling Software for Animal Claws

CLAW is a software that provides an integrated platform for the high-resolution phase differentiation (material differentiation), and biomechanical modeling of animal claws. The workflow begins by converting two-dimensional (2D) DICOM slices from computer tomography (CT) scans into a three-dimensional (3D) volumetric model. From this 3D volume, users can perform segmentation to differentiate between regions of alpha-keratin, beta-keratin, and bone. Based on the segmented volume, the software enables the creation of single-material and composite-material meshes using 3D Delaunay tetrahedralization, based on machine learning to generate accurate surface, voxel, and volumetric meshes. After meshing, users can assign material properties (currently limited to a single material) to the whole claw, and perform finite element–based stress analysis under different loading conditions. The workflow ensures high geometric fidelity and supports the reproducible modeling of complex biological structures.