The perception of transparency in medical images

Abstract

Many of the tasks performed by clinicians during surgical planning or diagnosis relyon the visualization of medical images. When information from multiple modalities is integrated, some images must be seen through others. In these cases, surfaces or volumetric images are rendered semi-opaque, or transparent. It is necessary, therefore, to understand the nature of transparencyp erception in human visual system. A set of experiments is presented which begins to look at the role of stereoscopy, spatial frequency, and multiple layers in the perception of transparent achromatic surfaces. An adjustment technique has been developed for the measurement of observer performance, and a physical and algebraic model for the perception of multiple transparent surfaces is described. The results show good agreement with the models developed.