Advanced GPU Volume Rendering for Virtual Endoscopy

Abstract

For difficult cases in endoscopic sinus surgery, a careful planning of the intervention is necessary. Virtual endoscopy enables the visualization of the operating field and additional information, such as risk structures and target structures to be removed. The Sinus Endoscopy system provides the functional range of a virtual endoscopic system with special focus on a realistic representation. Furthermore, by using direct volume rendering, we avoid time-consuming segmentation steps for the use of individual patient datasets. However, the image quality of the endoscopic view can be adjusted in a way that a standard computer with a modern standard graphics card achieves interactive frame rates with low CPU utilization. Thereby, characteristics of the endoscopic view are systematically used for the optimization of the volume rendering speed. As a small standalone application it can be instantly used for surgical planning and patient education. The system was used for preoperative planning in 102 cases, provides useful information for intervention planning (e.g., anatomic variations of the Rec. Frontalis), and closely resembles the intraoperative situation.