The Visible Man: 3D Interactive Musculoskeletal Anatomic Atlas of the Lower Extremity1

To build a personal computer based interactive musculoskeletal anatomic atlas using Visible Man data set, we developed a semi-automated segmentation program by using an intelligent scissors approach and a shape-based interpolation. Manual contour extractions at 3mm slice intervals and shape-based interpolations of inter-slices of the musculoskeletal structures of the lower extremity were carried out. For interactive and realistic 3D display, we have developed an efficient binary volume rendering method that introduces the concepts of shear-warp factorization and applies a newly developed normal calculation technique. We have segmented and labeled all the muscles, tendons and bones of the lower extremity. Our volume based 3D interactive atlas supports various interactions including rotation, removal, highlighting with artificial colors, arbitrary cutting operation, transparent view, and descriptive knowledge representation. In addition, browsing through the 2D images of transverse, coronal, and sagittal views with labeling and segmentation information is possible.