Surface and volume rendering techniques to display 3-D data

An overview of 3-D rendering techniques of medical data is presented. It is pointed out that volume rendering, and especially ray tracing, can be considered to be the most sophisticated and general method to display 3-D medical data. However, surface rendering still remains the most relevant technique for displaying noncommensurate information such as anatomical atlases. Hence, one of the main practical issues is to select the most appropriate image rendering method, based on the data acquisition modes and the medical relevance. The future of 3-D medical imaging is also discussed.< >