Vgstudio

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VGSTUDIO is a software for processing voxels . It was the first computer program for the analysis and volume visualization ( volume graphics ) of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) data for the purposes of quality assurance and measurement technology. With Vgstudio it was possible for the first time from 1998 that individual slice images no longer had to be viewed in isolation. The CT scans could be analyzed and visualized spatially coherent in all three dimensions on a commercially available personal computer .

history

The first release was developed by physicists Thomas Günther, Christoph Poliwoda and Christof Reinhart as part of a research project at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg , which started in 1992. In cooperation with the German Cancer Research Center ( DKFZ ) in Heidelberg and the University of Mannheim , Chair of Technical Computer Science, the aim was to make CT and MRT data visible in real time. The challenge was that at the beginning of the 1990s the DKFZ did not have optimized algorithms for volume visualization and computers at that time could hardly process CT scans with a data volume of 32 megabytes (MB). Therefore, the three physicists developed a special computer that could display medical data quickly and which they then wanted to sell on the market. In a later version, the hardware should be implemented in the form of application-specific integrated circuits , or ASIC for short. Because there was no demand for this hardware at the beginning of the nineties, Vginsight, the software for controlling the computer, was outsourced to a separate product and the calculation was software-based. Vgstudio was developed in parallel. The Heidelberg University software company Volume Graphics GmbH was founded in 1997 from the research project supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Heidelberg University spin-off later funded by the State of Baden-Württemberg and the German Start-Up Fund .

functionality

The computer program reconstructs a three-dimensional volume data set from many individual images from a CT scanner. The result is an exact copy of the real object that contains as many features of the original as possible. The smallest distinguishable elements, analyzed using Vgstudio, are voxels (3D counterpart to pixels ). These are shown in gray values. Conclusions about the material properties can be drawn from the different gray values ​​of the voxels. For example, air is shown very dark, lead very light. The surface of the object is located between the material and the air. The basic functions of Vgstudio include interactive rotation, clipping (axis-parallel and any planes), opacity mapping and scaling of voxel or CAD data.

application areas

Scientific publications

  • Virim: A massively parallel processor for real-time volume visualization in medicine - J. Hesser, C. Reinhart, C. Poliwoda, T. Guenther, R. Männer, H.-P. Meinzer, H.-J. Baur, Computers & Graphics, 1995
  • Evaluation of a real-time direct volume rendering system - M. De Boor, J. Hesser, A. Gröpl, T. Günther, C. Poliwoda, C. Reinhart, R. Männer, University of Mannheim - Chair for Computer Science, Computers & Graphics , 1997
  • Modern voxel based data and geometry analysis software tools for industrial CT - C. Reinhart, C. Poliwoda, T. Guenther, W. Roemer, S. Maass, C. Gosch, 2004
  • Industrial computer tomography - a universal inspection tool - Christof Reinhart, 17th World Conference on Nondestructive Testing, Shanghai, China, 10/2008

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Association of German Engineers (VDI), Central German Communications, Cast Components in the Focus of the CT Specialists, 01/2016
  2. ↑ QZ-Online, digital troubleshooting in Voxelbrei, 09/2016
  3. ↑ Der Spiegel, Einstein's Heirs, 03/2005
  4. ↑ Physics Journal, Being Your Own Boss, 12/2004
  5. ^ Rhein-Neckar Zeitung, View into Hidden Worlds, 03/2016
  6. ^ Bloomberg LP, Company Profile
  7. ^ Quality Magazine, Get the Most Out of CT Software, 03/2009
  8. ↑ QZ-Online, direct target / actual comparison in the CT, 04/2007
  9. ↑ Computers & Graphics, 09-10 / 1995
  10. ^ Computer & Graphics, 03-04 / 1997
  11. ↑ Database of Nondestructive Testing (NDT)
  12. ↑ 17th World Conference on Nondestructive Testing, Shanghai, China, 10/2008