Interactive surgical planning using context based volume visualization techniques

We present a new volume visualization scheme, context based volume visualization to assist the surgeon in surgical planning. This visualization scheme differs from ordinary surface based rendering and volume rendering by providing a framework to combine surface based rendering and volume rendering. We can achieve the powerful manipulating capability of surface based rendering and as good a rendering effect as volume rendering at the same time. Using a special data structured-segment tree to manage the visualization scene, which includes all the volume objects and graphics objects (the surgical tools) needed to be visualized, this visualization scheme provides a common context based interface for both graphics objects and volume objects, through which, we can control graphics and volume objects easily in the same way. The context based visualization scheme can greatly increase the performance of volume visualization by generating the scene much faster through selectively revisualizing the affected objects. Based on these ideas, we implement an interactive surgical planning system, Virtual Doctor based on OpenGL 1.1 on WinNT platform and VolumePro vg500 card. This system is a good 3D volume visualization tool and augmented reality system for interactive surgical planning and further research in this area.