Context-Oriented Medical Visualization with Floating Images

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...

2010

Even early versions of our system are expected to have a combination of capabilities not previously found in such displays; its 3-D image resolution will be significantly higher than CRT-based systems; it will have flexible slice positioning, illumination control and complete! y stationary film and project ion components not found in any previous film-based sy~tems. Later systems will also allow the user to modify the image interactively. 1.

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...

2009

We describe here the first working prototype of a novel display for viewing 3D medical images. The position and orientation of a freely movable touch-screen display are optically tracked and used to continuously determine which slice to display within a 3D data set. The slice is registered "in situ" relative to a fixed coordinate system, through which the display is moved. We have coined the term "grab-a-slice" for the new display, to connote the intuitive nature of the interaction it provides with volumetric data, potentially more so than that provided by traditional fixed displays. With grab-a-slice, the user experiences the illusion of slicing through an invisible patient. The touch-screen allows the user to directly identify the location of any point of interest within the 3D image data. Grab-a-slice has a number of possible clinical and scientific applications. In particular, we are exploring its utility for improved vascular tracing to identify pulmonary embolus in contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). In addition, we are planning psychophysical studies of how users explore and navigate through medical image data with this new display. We are also developing methods of graphical augmentation for grab-a-slice using stereo display, to improve the ability of users to understand the raw content of a tomographic slice in the context of the surrounding 3D anatomy and to improve their ability to navigate through a 3D dataset. Finally, we are exploring the use of grab-a-slice to supervise semi-automated image analysis routines.

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...

Computer Aided …, 2006

2010

With the introduction of medical scanners, the demand for efficient visualization of scanned data increases. Such visualization is of great importance in many medical applications. In this paper, we first introduce an optimized algorithm for extracting arbitrarily-oriented cross sectional slices from volumetric datasets, which obviously allows for an enhanced view compared to the traditional axis-oriented slice display. This algorithm is then integrated into an augmented reality system that provides enhanced visualization functionalities for the user. Finally, we present a potential application of this system in image-guided surgery by superimposing information, extracted from pre-and intraoperatively scanned patient data, with the optical image.

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.

2001

In this paper, a "Surgeon Assistant System" using Enhanced Reality (ER) approach is presented. The main idea is to use Virtual Reality (VR) device(s), and assist the surgeon with one and two-dimensional information of human body and three-dimensional volumetric surface models, of anatomic tissues, especially in brain operations. This opportunity may increase the concentration of the surgeon with the combinational