Interactive display of three-dimensional radionuclide distributions.
Tomographic images of three-dimensional radionuclide distributions are usually presented as a set of parallel planar slices. A technique has been developed to enable the observer to perceive directly the three-dimensional morphology of the activity distribution by displaying iso-count surfaces. Computer graphics techniques have been used to present shaded surface images using a conventional nuclear medicine computer system. Because of the relatively coarse spatial sampling of radionuclide tomograms, a smooth shading algorithm based on a local polynomial fit procedure was developed. By using a simple solid model approach for data storage the program executes interactively, allowing the observer to view the reconstructed activity distribution from any aspect. The technique has been successfully applied to radionuclide tomograms of several organs, and promises to be particularly useful for the display or cardiac blood pool data.
D000465:Algorithms; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000379:methods*