Interactive Visualization of 3D Medical Data

Abstract

The rapid development of computed tomography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging and other 3D medical imaging modalities has inspired corresponding development of visualization methods for this data. Described in this paper are some of these methods. Emphasized are volume rendering techniques that generate extremely high-quality images directly from the 3D data. Also described are less computation-intensive methods based on extracted polygonal surface representations. The polygon-based methods can already be used for interactive visual exploration; volume renderings will become interactive with the next generation of graphics computers. We also briefly describe two unusual display systems-one based on a vibrating varifocal mirror, the other based on a head-mounted display-that enhance interactive visualization and manipulation of 3D medical data. Keywords: Medical equipment, Medical computer applications.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA208091

Entities

People

  • Henry Fuchs
  • Marc Levoy
  • Stephen M. Pizer

Organizations

  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computer Graphics
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Data Sets
  • Diagnostic Imaging
  • Display Systems
  • Graphics
  • Gray Scale
  • Health Services
  • Human-Machine Interaction
  • Image Processing
  • Medical Personnel
  • Radiation Oncology
  • Ray Tracing
  • Soft Tissues
  • Three Dimensional
  • X-Ray Computed Tomography

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computer Science.
  • Computer Vision.
  • Medical Imaging.