Anatomical models for virtual reality and web-based applications

We present a methodology for the creation, manipulation and transmission of 3D anatomical models starting from stacks of medical images. The anatomical information for the models is first segmented from the images and then used by a surface reconstruction algorithm to create 3D meshes that accurately represent the surface of the organs being modeled. The meshes are then ex-ported in an open format for manipulation in a graphics platform. Using high-end graphics algorithms we render and texture-map our meshes. We can also deform the meshes and assign physical and material properties to them. Our models can be used for virtual reality applications and can also be transmitted over the Internet for remote interactive visualization and retrieval.