Three-dimensional Volume Rendering of Spiral CT Data: Theory and Method

Three-dimensional (3D) medical images of computed tomographic (CT) data sets can be generated with a variety of computer algorithms. The three most commonly used techniques are shaded surface display, maximum intensity projection, and, more recently, 3D volume rendering. Implementation of 3D volume rendering involves volume data management, which relates to operations including acquisition, resampling, and editing of the data set; rendering parameters including window width and level, opacity, brightness, and percentage classification; and image display, which comprises techniques such as “fly-through” and “fly-around,” multiple-view display, obscured structure and shading depth cues, and kinetic and stereo depth cues. An understanding of both the theory and method of 3D volume rendering is essential for accurate evaluation of the resulting images. Three-dimensional volume rendering is useful in a wide variety of applications but is just now being incorporated into commercially available software packages for medical imaging. Although further research is needed to determine the efficacy of 3D volume rendering in clinical applications, with wider availability and improved cost-to-performance ratios in computing, 3D volume rendering is likely to enjoy widespread acceptance in the medical community.

References

  • 1 Rubin GD, Dake MD, Napel SA, McDonnell CH, Jeffrey RB, Jr. Three-dimensional spiral CT angiography of the abdomen: initial clinical experience. Radiology 1993; 186:147-152.
  • 2 Rubin GD, Dake MD, Napel S, et al. Spiral CT of renal artery stenosis: comparison of three-dimensional rendering techniques. Radiology 1994; 190:181-189.
  • 3 Galanski M, Prokop M, Chavan A, Schaefer CM, Jandeleit K, Nischelsky JE. Renal arterial stenoses: spiral CT angiography. Radiology 1993; 189:185-192.
  • 4 Rubin GD, Alfrey EJ, Dake MD, et al. Assessment of living renal donors with spiral CT. Radiology 1995; 195:457-462.
  • 5 Winter TC, III, Freeny PC, Nghiem HV, et al. Hepatic arterial anatomy in transplantation candidates: evaluation with three-dimensional CT arteriography. Radiology 1995; 195:363-370.
  • 6 Cumming MJ, Morrow IM. Carotid artery stenosis: a prospective comparison of CT angiography and conventional angiography. AJR 1994; 163:517-523.
  • 7 Raptopoulos V, Rosen MP, Kent KC, Kuestner LM, Sheiman RG, Pearlman JD. Sequential helical CT angiography of aortoiliac disease. AJR 1996; 166:1347-1354.
  • 8 Rieker O, Duber C, Neufang A, Pitton M, Schweden F, Thelen M. CT angiography versus intraarterial digital subtraction angiography for assessment of aortoiliac occlusive disease. AJR 1997; 169:1133-1138.
  • 9 Heath DG, Soyer PA, Kuszyk BS, et al. Three-dimensional spiral CT during arterial portography: comparison of three rendering techniques. RadioGraphics 1995; 15:1001-1011.
  • 10 Drebin RA, Carpenter L, Hanrahan P. Volume rendering. Comput Graph 1988; 22:65-74.
  • 11 Ney DR, Drebin RA, Fishman EK, Magid D. Volumetric rendering of computed tomographic data: principles and techniques. IEEE Comput Graph Applicat 1990; 10:24-32.
  • 12 Fishman EK, Magid D, Ney DR, et al. Three-dimensional imaging. Radiology 1991; 181:321-337.
  • 13 Rubin GD, Beaulieu CF, Argiro V, et al. Perspective volume rendering of CT and MR images: applications for endoscopic imaging. Radiology 1996; 199:321-330.
  • 14 Drebin RA, Magid D, Robertson DD, Fishman EK. Fidelity of three-dimensional CT imaging for detecting fracture gaps. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1989; 13:487-489.
  • 15 Ebert DS, Heath DG, Kuszyk BS, et al. Evaluating the potential and problems of three-dimensional computed tomography measurements of arterial stenosis. J Digit Imaging 1998; 11:151-157.
  • 16 Kuszyk BS, Heath DG, Johnson PT, Fishman EK. CT angiography with volume rendering: in vitro optimization and evaluation of accuracy in quantifying stenoses (abstr). AJR 1997; 168:79.
  • 17 Gouraud H. Continuous shading of curved surfaces. IEEE Trans Comput 1971; 20:623-629.
  • 18 Phong BT. Illumination for computer generated pictures. Commun ACM 1975; 18:311-317.
  • 19 Robb RA, Greenleaf JF, Ritman EL, et al. Three-dimensional visualization of the intact thorax and contents: a technique for cross-sectional reconstruction from multiplanar x-ray views. Comput Biomed Res 1974; 7:395-419.
  • 20 Herman GT, Liu HK. Display of three-dimensional information in computed tomography. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1977; 1:155-160.
  • 21 Herman GT, Liu HK. Three-dimensional display of human organs from computed tomograms. Comput Graph Image Process 1979; 9:1-21.
  • 22 Fuchs H, Kedem ZM, Uselton SP. Optimal surface reconstruction from planar contours. Commun ACM 1977; 20:693-702.
  • 23 Lorenson WE, Cline HE. Marching cubes: a high resolution 3D surface reconstruction algorithm. Comput Graph 1987; 21:163-169.
  • 24 Schreiner S, Paschal CB, Galloway RL. Comparison of projection algorithms used for the construction of maximum intensity projection images. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1996; 20:56-67.
  • 25 Levoy M. Display of surfaces from volume data. IEEE Comput Graph Applicat 1988; 8:29-37.
  • 26 Fishman EK, Drebin B, Magid D, et al. Volumetric rendering techniques: applications for three-dimensional imaging of the hip. Radiology 1987; 163:737-738.
  • 27 Cabral B, Cam N, Foran J. Accelerated volume rendering and tomographic reconstruction using texture mapping hardware ACM/IEEE Symposium on Volume Visualization. Washington, DC: IEEE Computer Science, 1994; 91-97.
  • 28 Fishman EK, Liang CC, Kuszyk BS, et al. Automated bone editing algorithm for CT angiography: preliminary results. AJR 1996; 166:669-672.
  • 29 Ney DR, Kuhlman JE, Hruban RH, Ren H, Hutchins GM, Fishman EK. Three-dimensional CT-volumetric reconstruction and display of the bronchial tree. Invest Radiol 1990; 25:736-742.
  • 30 Gao L, Heath DG, Kuszyk BS, Fishman EK. Automatic liver segmentation technique for three-dimensional visualization of CT data. Radiology 1996; 201:359-364.
  • 31 Fishman EK, Magid D, Mandelbaum BR, et al. Multiplanar (MPR) imaging of the hip. RadioGraphics 1986; 6:7-54.
  • 32 Ney DR, Fishman EK, Magid D, Robertson DD, Kawashima A. Three-dimensional volumetric display of CT data: effect of scan parameters upon image quality. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1991; 15:875-885.
  • 33 Marsh JL, Vannier MW. Surface imaging from computerized tomographic scans. Surgery 1983; 94:159-165.
  • 34 Vannier MW, Marsh JL, Warren JO. Three dimensional CT reconstruction images for craniofacial surgical planning and evaluation. Radiology 1984; 150:179-184.
  • 35 Fishman EK, Magid D, Ney DR, Drebin RA, Kuhlman JE. Three-dimensional imaging and display of musculoskeletal anatomy. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1988; 12:465-467.
  • 36 Fishman EK, Magid D, Drebin RA, Brooker AF, Jr, Scott WJ, Jr, Riley LH, Jr. Advanced three-dimensional evaluation of acetabular trauma: volumetric image processing. J Trauma 1989; 29:214-218.
  • 37 Kuszyk BS, Heath DG, Bliss DF, Fishman EK. Skeletal 3-D CT: advantages of volume rendering over surface rendering. Skeletal Radiol 1996; 25:207-214.
  • 38 Johnson PT, Heath DG, Kuszyk BS, Fishman EK. CT angiography: thoracic vascular imaging with interactive volume rendering technique. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1997; 21:110-114.
  • 39 Johnson PT, Heath DG, Kuszyk BS, Fishman EK. CT angiography with volume rendering: advantages and applications in splanchnic vascular imaging. Radiology 1996; 200:564-568.
  • 40 Smith PA, Marshall FF, Urban BA, Heath DG, Fishman EK. Three-dimensional CT stereoscopic visualization of renal masses: impact on diagnosis and patient management. AJR 1997; 169:1331-1334.
  • 41 Kuszyk BS, Heath DG, Ney DR, et al. CT angiography with volume rendering: imaging findings. AJR 1995; 165:445-448.

Article History

Published in print: May 1999