Volumetric Medical Data Visualization for Collaborative VR Environments

摘要

In clinical practice, medical imaging technologies, like computed tomography, have become an important and routinely used technique for diagnosis. Advanced 3D visualization techniques of this data, e.g. by using volume rendering, provide doctors a better spatial understanding for reviewing complex anatomy. There already exist sophisticated programs for the visualization of medical imaging data, however, they are usually limited to exactly this topic and can be hardly extended to new functionality; for instance, multi-user support, especially when considering immersive VR interfaces like tracked HMDs and natural user interfaces, can provide the doctors an easier, more immersive access to the information and support collaborative discussions with remote colleagues. We present an easy-to-use and expandable system for volumetric medical image visualization with support for multi-user VR interactions. The main idea is to combine a state-of-the-art open-source game engine, the Unreal Engine 4, with a new volume renderer. The underlying game engine basis guarantees the extensibility and allows for easy adaption of our system to new hardware and software developments. In our example application, remote users can meet in a shared virtual environment and view, manipulate and discuss the volume-rendered data in real-time. Our new volume renderer for the Unreal Engine is capable of real-time performance, as well as, high-quality visualization.