Virtual Colonoscopy
Colon cancer is among the leading causes of cancer deaths in the western world. Early diagnosis significantly decreases the incidence of colon cancer. For this purpose, virtual colonoscopy has been developed as a procedure to inspect the interior wall of the human colon for benign tumours by using CT or MRI scans (Figure 1). It is a minimally-invasive technique that causes much less discomfort to the patient than traditional optical colonoscopy.
Figure 1. CT scans of the human body
Visualization and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) are essentials of virtual colonoscopy. The visualization of the colon wall is based on iso-surface extraction or direct volume rendering (DVR) to allow for visual inspection by a radiologist (Figure 2). A thorough visual examination of the complete colon wall is rather time consuming. Therefore computer-aided techniques are suggested to pre-detect and highlight suspicious areas in order to reduce the examination time and cost.
Figure 2. Visualization of the colon wall
Theme: Medical Visualisation
People: Iwo Serlie, LingXiao Zhao, Charl P. Botha, Frits H. Post