Combined Volume Registration and Visualization

Abstract

We describe a method for combining and visualizing a set of overlapping volume images with high resolution but limited spatial extent. Our system combines the calculation of a registration metric with ray casting for direct volume rendering into a combined operation performed on the graphics processing unit (GPU). The combined calculation reduces memory traffic, increases rendering frame rate, and makes possible interactive-speed, usersupervised, semi-automatic combination of many component volume images. For volumes that do not overlap any other imaged volume, the system uses contextual information provided in the form of an overall 2D background image to calculate a registration metric.