Medical real-time visualization and communication using X3D
MedX3D: Standards enabled desktop medical 3D
Chairs: Nigel John, Michael Aratow
The Medical Working Group is developing an open interoperable standard for the representation of human anatomy based on input from a wide variety of imaging modalities. This will allow manufacturers of imaging equipment to export an interoperable file format that can be used both by physicians and students on their desktop computers. Radiologists and physicians can give the patient CD-ROMS of their scans which they can view in the privacy of their homes. If a patient has undergone multiple types of scans (CAT, MRI, PET) these may all be viewed and registered giving the physician and patient a clearer view of the underlying issues. Researchers can take the exported data from many different types of equipment and fuse them into a coherent 3D data set that can be used both for patient education, diagnostics and surgical training.
MedX3D is tightly focused on medical applications that can benefit from real time 3D visualization. These types of applications include medical modeling and simulation for research and education; 3D image rendering for planning and guiding surgical and nuclear medicine procedures; image fusion-the association of specific 2D images from multimodal (PET, CAT, MRI, Ultrasound) scans with one another or with existing 3D images of a given patient.
We are also working to develop interchange mechanisms between DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) and MedX3D
Application Areas
- Medical Modeling
- Surgical training
- Patient education
Initial Technical Focus
- Representation of human anatomy in X3D
- Association of 2D images (from multiple modalities) with 3D skeletal structure with registration
- Extension of X3D to accommodate image textures in context of 3D anatomy model
Current MedX3D Contributors
- NIST
- Duke University
- Penn State
- University of Wales
Telemedicine and Advanced Technology and Research Center (TATRC) Project
This project enables the visualization of medical images from CT, MRI and other imaging devices which output the DICOM standard format in 3D with full volume rendering capabilities within a X3D browser. A MedX3D profile of the X3D specification, links to anatomic ontologies and import/export libraries to ease 3rd party development was also created. Michael Aratow, MD, FACEP, co-chair of the Medical Working Group, was the Principal Investigator on the project, and through a competitive proposal process within the Consortium membership, Yumetech, Inc., Media Machines, Inc. and SenseGraphics AB were awarded funding to perform the specific tasks.
The deliverables developed by the Web3D Consortium through a grant from TATRC are now freely available for unlimited use.
Who should join
- Researchers, developers, and users from business, government and academics to participate in active development and deployment
How to join an X3D Working Group
Any Consortium Member can join a Working Group. We offer student, professional, academic and company level memberships.
Consortium members can simply go to the Consortium Member Login area of the website to sign-up to join this work group