Integrative Visualization of Temporally Varying Medical Image Patterns
Full article [PDF] (1,20 MB)
doi:10.2390/biecoll-jib-2011-161
April 29, 2011
July 12, 2011
July 21, 2011
PubMed ID 21778531
Jung Soh, Mei Xiao, Thao Do, Oscar Meruvia-Pastor and Christoph W. Sensen
Correspondence should be addressed to:
Jung Soh
Visual Genomics Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 4N1, Canada
ac.yraglacu@nullhosj
Abstract
We have developed a tool for the visualization of temporal changes of disease patterns, using stacks of medical images collected in time-series experiments. With this tool, users can generate 3D surface models representing disease patterns and observe changes over time in size, shape, and location of clinically significant image patterns. Statistical measurements of the volume of the observed disease patterns can be performed simultaneously. Spatial data integration occurs through the combination of 2D slices of an image stack into a 3D surface model. Temporal integration occurs through the sequential visualization of the 3D models from different time points. Visual integration enables the tool to show 2D images, 3D models and statistical data simultaneously. As an example, the tool has been used to visualize brain MRI scans of several multiple sclerosis patients. It has been developed in Java™, to ensure portability and platform independence, with a user-friendly interface and can be downloaded free of charge for academic users.