Extraction of structures in volumetric images is an important early task in visualization. Following structure extraction, the structures can be rendered for final display for scientists or clinicians. Dataset registration is also important for monitoring change and assessing intervention strategies. This project will focus on visualization of tomographic data, although the methods developed are likely to be useful for related problems in other volumetric data domains. The project will empirically test the PI's methods on other (non medical) volumetric datasets to examine the general utility of the methods. In traditional medical applications, tomographic data has not been thoroughly exploited. A key part of this research is support of more effective utilization of volumetric data. In particular, for medical application, the visualization stages addressed in this proposal must be accomplished in near real-time to support diagnosis, treatment planning, intervention guidance, and treatment assessment.
