GPU-based point radiation for interactive volume sculpting and segmentation

Internal structures, features, and properties in volumetric datasets are mostly obscured and hidden. In order to reveal and explore them, appropriate tools are required to remove and carve the occluding materials and isolate and extract different regions of interest. We introduce a framework of interactive tools for real-time volume sculpting and segmentation. We utilize a GPU-based point radiation technique as a fundamental building block to create a collection of high-quality volume manipulation tools for direct drilling, lasering, peeling, and cutting/pasting. In addition, we enable interactive parallel region growing segmentation that allows multiple seed planting by direct sketching on different volumetric regions with segmentation results dynamically modified during the process. We use the same point radiation technique to create high-quality real-time feedback of the segmented regions during the seed growing process. We present results obtained from raw and segmented medical volume datasets.