VIRIM - A MASSIVELY-PARALLEL PROCESSOR FOR REALTIME VOLUME VISUALIZATION IN MEDICINE

Architecture and applications of a massively parallel system currently developed are described, which allows real-time visualization using v olume oriented visualization algorithms. Volumes of 256 x 256 x 128 vo xels can be visualized with a frame rate of 10 Hz. The system is scala ble and modular, and will allow a multi-user access over high-speed ne tworks. 3D-rotation around arbitrary rotation axis, perspective, zoomi ng and arbitrary grey value mapping are provided in real-time. A volum e oriented algorithm is used that is tailored to the requirements in m edicine [H.-P. Meinzer et al., IEEE Comp. Graph. Appl., 34 (Nov. 1991) ]. With this algorithm, small structures without defined surfaces, e.g ., tumours, can be visualized as well as semi-transparent objects. One planned application of the system is heart surgery.