In order to solve the problems of the difficulty to extract features on the smooth regions of mesh models and the impossibility to recognize the feature vertices distributed only along one specific direction by the existing feature detection methods, a direction-perception method of feature recognition on mesh models was proposed. Firstly, the changes of the normal vectors of the mesh vertex adjacent surfaces were detected in x, y and z directions separately. With a suitable threshold set, if the change of a normal vector of the mesh vertex adjacent surfaces exceeded the threshold in any direction, the vertex would be recognized as a feature vertex. Then, concerning the problem that the existing mesh model feature detection algorithms cannot recognize the terraced field structure only distributed along the z-axis of three-dimensional medical model, the algorithm detected the change of normal vectors of the mesh vertex adjacent surfaces just along the z-axis direction, and recognized the vertex as a terraced field structure vertex once the change of the vertex exceeds the threshold. The abnormal terraced field structures were separated from the normal structures of the human body successfully. The experimental results show that, compared with the dihedral angle method, the proposed method can identify the features of the mesh model better under the same conditions. The proposed method solves the problem that the dihedral angle method cannot effectively identify the feature vertices on the smooth regions without obvious broken lines, and also solves the problem that the existing mesh model feature detection algorithms cannot distinguish the abnormal terraced field structures from the normal human body structures due to the lack of the direction detection ability, and establishes a base for the following digital geometry processing of the medical model.