Interactive dynamic navigation for virtual endoscopy

Complex anatomical information can be obtained from a 3D radiologic image b y navigating through it in a manner similar to an endoscopic examination. R eal-time computation of 'virtual' endoscopic views, however, is needed to p ermit interactive navigation. We present a fast volume-rendering method for computing such views. Our method, motivated by the temporal-coherence conc ept, performs dynamic volume rendering at interactive frame rates. Results demonstrate the method's efficiency and accuracy. Also, our method constitu tes part of a complete virtual-endoscopic system we have devised. This syst em is illustrated for 3D pulmonary analysis. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.