An interactive 3D medical visualization system based on a light field display (original) (raw)
Related papers
2008 Fifth International Conference BioMedical Visualization: Information Visualization in Medical and Biomedical Informatics, 2008
This paper describes the Medical Visualizer, a real-time visualization system for analyzing medical volumetric data in various virtual environments, such as autostereoscopic displays, dual-projector screens and immersive environments such as the CAVE. Direct volume rendering is used for visualizing the details of medical volumetric data sets without intermediate geometric representations. By interactively manipulating the color and transparency functions through the friendly user interface, radiologists can either inspect the data set as a whole or focus on a specific region. In our system, 3D texture hardware is employed to accelerate the rendering process. The system is designed to be platform independent, as all virtual reality functions are separated from kernel functions. Due to its modular design, our system can be easily extended to other virtual environments, and new functions can be incorporated rapidly.
Medical Visualization with New Generation Spatial 3D Displays
2007
In this paper the capabilities of a modern spatial 3D display are exploited for medical visualization tasks. The system gives multiple viewers the illusion of seeing virtual objects floating at fixed physical locations. The usage of this kind of display in conjunction with 3D visualization techniques helps disambiguating complex images, so it is proven to be a real advantage for immediate understanding and visualization of medical data. We demonstrate this by reporting on some preliminary test cases of direct volume rendering techniques (Maximum Intensity Projection and X Ray simulation), as well as an example of a collaborative medical diagnostic application for analysis of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms.
Medical applications of multi-field volume rendering and vr techniques
2004
This paper reports on a new approach for visualizing multi-field MRI or CT datasets in an immersive environment with medical applications. Multi-field datasets combine multiple scanning modalities into a single 3D, multivalued, dataset. In our approach, they are classified and rendered using real-time hardware accelerated volume rendering, and displayed in a hybrid work environment, consisting of a dual power wall and a desktop PC. For practical reasons in this environment, the design and use of the transfer functions is subdivided into two steps, classification and exploration. The classification step is done at the desktop, taking advantage of the 2D mouse as a high accuracy input device. The exploration process takes place on the powerwall. We present our new approach, describe the underlying implementation issues, report on our experiences with different immersive environments, and suggest ways it can be used for collaborative medical diagnosis and treatment planning.
GPU Accelerated Direct Volume Rendering on an Interactive Light Field Display
Computer Graphics Forum, 2008
We present a GPU accelerated volume ray casting system interactively driving a multi-user light field display. The display, driven by a single programmable GPU, is based on a specially arranged array of projectors and a holographic screen and provides full horizontal parallax. The characteristics of the display are exploited to develop a specialized volume rendering technique able to provide multiple freely moving naked-eye viewers the illusion of seeing and manipulating virtual volumetric objects floating in the display workspace. In our approach, a GPU ray-caster follows rays generated by a multiple-center-of-projection technique while sampling pre-filtered versions of the dataset at resolutions that match the varying spatial accuracy of the display. The method achieves interactive performance and provides rapid visual understanding of complex volumetric data sets even when using depth oblivious compositing techniques.
A method for viewing and interacting with medical volumes in virtual reality
2019
The medical field has long benefited from advancements in diagnostic imaging technology. Medical images created through methods such as Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are used by medical professionals to non-intrusively peer into the body to make decisions about surgeries. Over time, the viewing medium of medical images has evolved from X-ray film negatives to stereoscopic 3D displays, with each new development enhancing the viewer’s ability to discern detail or decreasing the time needed to produce and render a body scan. Though doctors and surgeons are trained to view medical images in 2D, some are choosing to view body scans in 3D through volume rendering. While traditional 2D displays can be used to display 3D data, a viewing method that incorporates depth would convey more information to the viewer. One device that has shown promise in medical image viewing applications is the Virtual Reality Head Mounted Display (VR HMD). VR HMDs have recently in...
2018
The proposed device offers virtual slicing of medical images with realistic spatial operation, boosts intuition and interaction, and enables users to view an anatomical target from any angle. The user holds the two handles of a monitor on each side and sweeps it through a virtual human body to view from the desired angle. The monitor is mounted on an encoded counter-balanced arm, which is movable with minimum effort through the human body volume. The encoders trace the position of the monitor which is used to compute the cross-sectional view. Our system generated cross-sectional views as the user moved the monitor within the defined workspace. The computed slices then are visualized on the Graphical User Interface. This device could enhance current digital education and radiology reading techniques by providing a practical and engaging tool to visualize the hidden features of a human body. Widespread adoption of 3D visualization techniques to observe medical images such as MRI scans...
This paper presents Direct Volume Rendering (DVR) improvement strategies, which provide new opportunities for scientific and medical visualization which are not available in due measure in analogues: 1) multi-volume rendering in a single space of up to 3 volumetric datasets determined in different coordinate systems and having sizes as big as up to 512x512x512 16-bit values; 2) performing the above process in real time on a middle class GPU, e. g. nVidia GeForce GTS 250 512 M B; 3) a custom bounding mesh for more accurate selection of the desired region in addition to the clipping bounding box; 4) simultaneous usage of a number of visualization techniques including the shaded Direct Volume Rendering via the 1D-or 2D-transfer functions, multiple semi-transparent discrete iso-surfaces visualization, M IP, and M IDA. The paper discusses how the new properties affect the implementation of the DVR. In the DVR implementation we use such optimization strategies as the early ray termination and the empty space skipping. The clipping ability is also used as the empty space skipping approach to the rendering performance improvement. We use the random ray start position generation and the further frame accumulation in order to reduce the rendering artifacts. The rendering quality can be also improved by the onthe-fly tri-cubic filtering during the rendering process. Our framework supports 4 different stereoscopic visualization modes. Finally we outline the visualization performance in terms of the frame rates for different visualization techniques on different graphic cards.
Journal of digital imaging : the official journal of the Society for Computer Applications in Radiology, 2008
Volumetric imaging (computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging) provides increased diagnostic detail but is associated with the problem of navigation through large amounts of data. In an attempt to overcome this problem, a novel 3D navigation tool has been designed and developed that is based on an alternative input device. A 3D mouse allows for simultaneous definition of position and orientation of orthogonal or oblique multiplanar reformatted images or slabs, which are presented within a virtual 3D scene together with the volume-rendered data set and additionally as 2D images. Slabs are visualized with maximum intensity projection, average intensity projection, or standard volume rendering technique. A prototype has been implemented based on PC technology that has been tested by several radiologists. It has shown to be easily understandable and usable after a very short learning phase. Our solution may help to fully exploit the diagnostic potential of volumetric imaging by...