Knowledge Discovery through the Navigation Inside the Human Body

One of remarkable progress in medical image processing is the rapid extension of three-dimensional (3D) images of human body. Imaging technology such as CT and MRI has made it possible to acquire 3D images of patients in fine spatial resolution. Novel usage of such 3D images in both diagnosis and treatment is now being studied actively. Interesting examples include virtualized endoscope system, preoperative surgical simulation, intraoperative surgical aid, and the mass screening of lung cancer. In spite of very active development of new applications, research of these applications from the viewpoint of knowledge processing has not been reported. Although comprehensive surveys were published in [1][2], studies of these kinds of image processing as knowledge processing are not referred