3D virtual colonoscopy

The authors present here a method called 3D virtual colonoscopy, which is an alternative method to existing procedures of imaging the mucosal surface of the colon. Using 3D reconstruction of helical CT data and volume visualization techniques, the authors generate images of the inner surface of the colon as if the viewer's eyes were inside the colon. They also create interactive flythroughs and off-line automatically-produced animations through the inside of the colon. The visualization is accomplished with VolVis, which is a comprehensive system for interactive volume visualization. The authors are specifically interested in visualizing colonic polyps larger than one cm since these have a high probability of containing carcinoma. The authors present testing results of their method as applied to two plastic pipe simulations and to the Visible Human data set.