title: Full body virtual autopsies using a state-of-the-art volume rendering pipeline.
abstract: This paper presents a procedure for virtual autopsies based on interactive 3D visualizations of large scale, high resolution data from CT-scans of human cadavers. The procedure is described using examples from forensic medicine and the added value and future potential of virtual autopsies is shown from a medical and forensic perspective. Based on the technical demands of the procedure state-of-the-art volume rendering techniques are applied and refined to enable real-time, full body virtual autopsies involving gigabyte sized data on standard GPUs. The techniques applied include transfer function based data reduction using level-of-detail selection and multi-resolution rendering techniques. The paper also describes a data management component for large, out-of-core data sets and an extension to the GPU-based raycaster for efficient dual TF rendering. Detailed benchmarks of the pipeline are presented using data sets from forensic cases.
authors.affiliation: Division for Visual Information Technology and Applications, Linköping University, Sweden. plg@itn.liu.se
authors.forename: Patric
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ljung
authors.forename: Calle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Winskog
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: Claes
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lundström
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ynnerman
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001344:Autopsy / Q000379:methods*; D002102:Cadaver; D003196:Computer Graphics; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000379:methods*