Volume rendering for 3-D echocardiography visualization

Author

Sarti, A. ; Lamberti, C. ; Erbacci, G. ; Pini, R.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron., Comput. Sci. & Syst., Bologna Univ., Italy

fYear

1993

fDate

5-8 Sep 1993

Firstpage

209

Lastpage

212

Abstract

Volume rendering techniques are particularly useful for the visualization of echographic data which appear noisy, irregular and fuzzy. Data were acquired by means of an annular transducer which rotates around its axis with increments of 3.6 degrees allowing the acquisition of 50 ECG-gated 2-D echography images. The 2-D images acquired in polar coordinates were remapped over a cartesian grid to produce a cube of data. A transfer function that allows the mapping of the 3-D echo data into colour and opacity visual parameters to enhance the regions of interest has been considered. A suitable shading algorithm allows the data to be viewed 3-dimensionally by means of a simple illumination technique. The final 2-D image is obtained by means of a back to front ray casting algorithm

Keywords

data visualisation; echocardiography; medical image processing; rendering (computer graphics); 3D echocardiography visualization; ECG-gated 2D echography; back to front ray casting algorithm; cartesian grid; data cube; medical diagnostic imaging; noisy irregular fuzzy data; polar coordinates; rotating annular transducer; shading algorithm; simple illumination technique; transfer function; volume rendering techniques; Acoustic noise; Data visualization; Displays; Echocardiography; Filters; Frequency; Heart; Image reconstruction; Rendering (computer graphics); Transfer functions;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Computers in Cardiology 1993, Proceedings.

Conference_Location

London

Print_ISBN

0-8186-5470-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CIC.1993.378467

Filename

378467