An efficient path-generation method for virtual colonoscopy

Abstract

Virtual colonoscopy is a non-invasive method for diagnosing colon diseases such as diverticulosis and cancer using digitized tomographic images to produce 3D images of the colon. In virtual colonoscopy, it is crucial to generate the camera path rapidly and accurately for an efficient examination. Most of the existing path-generation methods are computationally expensive since they require preliminary data structures and the 3D positions of all path points should be calculated. In this paper, we propose an automated path-generation method that secures visibility by emulating ray propagation through the colon conduit. The proposed method does not require any preliminary data preprocessing steps, which takes several minutes and it also dramatically reduces the number of points needed to represent the camera path. The experimental result is a perceivable increase in computational efficiency and a simpler approach to colon navigation. The proposed method can also be used in other applications that require efficient virtual navigation. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.