Visualization of 3D medical images for radiotherapy planning

A method for simultaneously visualizing original 3-D medical image data, segmented volumes of interest (VOIs) such as brain tumors, and synthesized objects such as iso-dose surfaces and therapeutic tools is proposed, and its 3-D visualization system for use in radiotherapy planning is described. The method can efficiently handle a 3-D array of multiple-attribute voxel data and geometrically defined objects, and can solve the problem of the lack of versatility of volume rendering techniques in medical application areas. The system consists of a 3-D interactive image editor, a geometric object modeler, and a hybrid renderer that implements the method. The 3-D interactive image editor provides capabilities for efficient manual and semiautomatic 3-D segmentation of VOIs from volume data, and for generating a segmented voxel model of VOIs. The geometric object modeler provides a capability for creating geometrically defined objects such as iso-dose surfaces and therapeutic tools from simple 3-D geometric primitives. The effectiveness of the proposed visual supporting capability is evaluated by using the results of visualization in radiotherapy planning.<>