“Interactive animations for medical data visualization” by Gering

 For many applications of 3-D medical data visualization, common graphics hardware is capable of performing surface rendering of a few segmented structures in true real-time. Volume rendering, which can generate photo-realistic images, can be performed in near real-time by making a trade-off in image quality. An example of this trade-off is the feature where medical images are rendered with reduced resolution while a user is rotating the viewpoint using the computer mouse or other input device. Then, when the user pauses his/her movement, the computer spends more time, such as a couple seconds, to render the scene at a higher resolution. Naturally, the clinically desired solution would be a means of providing both true real-time interaction, and full photo-realistic image quality. An example of such a solution is the OpenGL preview mode that BMRT had [Apodaca and Gritz 2000]. A method is proposed that progresses toward the goal of providing both real-time interaction to an attending physician, and high image quality for archival storage.  

1. Apodaca, A., Gritz, L. 2000. Advanced RenderMan. Morgan Kaufman.
2. SLICER. http://www.slicer.org