@misc{HombergBaumWiebeletal., author = {Homberg, Ulrike and Baum, Daniel and Wiebel, Alexander and Prohaska, Steffen and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Definition, Extraction, and Validation of Pore Structures in Porous Materials}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-42510}, abstract = {An intuitive and sparse representation of the void space of porous materials supports the efficient analysis and visualization of interesting qualitative and quantitative parameters of such materials. We introduce definitions of the elements of this void space, here called pore space, based on its distance function, and present methods to extract these elements using the extremal structures of the distance function. The presented methods are implemented by an image processing pipeline that determines pore centers, pore paths and pore constrictions. These pore space elements build a graph that represents the topology of the pore space in a compact way. The representations we derive from μCT image data of realistic soil specimens enable the computation of many statistical parameters and, thus, provide a basis for further visual analysis and application-specific developments. We introduced parts of our pipeline in previous work. In this chapter, we present additional details and compare our results with the analytic computation of the pore space elements for a sphere packing in order to show the correctness of our graph computation.}, language = {en} } @misc{EhlkeRammLameckeretal., author = {Ehlke, Moritz and Ramm, Heiko and Lamecker, Hans and Hege, Hans-Christian and Zachow, Stefan}, title = {Fast Generation of Virtual X-ray Images from Deformable Tetrahedral Meshes}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-41896}, abstract = {We propose a novel GPU-based approach to render virtual X-ray projections of deformable tetrahedral meshes. These meshes represent the shape and the internal density distribution of a particular anatomical structure and are derived from statistical shape and intensity models (SSIMs). We apply our method to improve the geometric reconstruction of 3D anatomy (e.g.\ pelvic bone) from 2D X-ray images. For that purpose, shape and density of a tetrahedral mesh are varied and virtual X-ray projections are generated within an optimization process until the similarity between the computed virtual X-ray and the respective anatomy depicted in a given clinical X-ray is maximized. The OpenGL implementation presented in this work deforms and projects tetrahedral meshes of high resolution (200.000+ tetrahedra) at interactive rates. It generates virtual X-rays that accurately depict the density distribution of an anatomy of interest. Compared to existing methods that accumulate X-ray attenuation in deformable meshes, our novel approach significantly boosts the deformation/projection performance. The proposed projection algorithm scales better with respect to mesh resolution and complexity of the density distribution, and the combined deformation and projection on the GPU scales better with respect to the number of deformation parameters. The gain in performance allows for a larger number of cycles in the optimization process. Consequently, it reduces the risk of being stuck in a local optimum. We believe that our approach contributes in orthopedic surgery, where 3D anatomy information needs to be extracted from 2D X-rays to support surgeons in better planning joint replacements.}, language = {en} } @misc{KlindtBaumProhaskaetal., author = {Klindt, Marco and Baum, Daniel and Prohaska, Steffen and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {iCon.text - a customizable iPad app for kiosk applications in museum exhibitions}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-17731}, abstract = {We present iCon.text, a kiosk platform for the iPad centered around artefacts, whose content and layout can be tailored without programming skills for specific museum exhibitions. The central metaphor to access information is a virtual postcard with one front and a customizable number of back sides that provide details about exhibits to museum visitors in textual and image form. Back sides can link to others cards. Access to these postcards is possible through one or more navigation views that can be navigated to from a navigation bar. The entry point to the application is designed as a multitouch interactive pile of cards in a playful manner that allows visitors of any age an easy approach to the presentation and interaction metaphor. To directly access a certain postcard, a mosaic view can be uitilized to provide an overview about all available exhibits. A category view groups postcards into themes. Locating artefacts on a zoomable map or exhibition floor plan allows for conveying information about spatial contexts between different objects and their location. Furthermore, contexts can be illustrated with a two stage view comprising an overview and corresponding detail views to provide further insights into the spatial, temporal, and thematic contexts of artefacts. The application scaffolding allows the design of bilingual presentations to support exhibitions with an international audience. The logo of the presenting institution or exhibition can be incorporated to display the the kiosk's corporate design branding and to access an imprint or further informations. Usage is logged into files to provide a basis for extracting statistical information about the usage. The details about the exhibits are presented as images and as such impose no limit to the design choices made by the content provider or exhibition designer. The application (enhanced with a panoramic view) has been integrated successfully into a large special exhibition about the ancient city of Pergamon 2011/2012 at the Pergamon Museum Berlin within the interdisciplinary project "Berlin Sculpture Network".}, language = {en} } @misc{DercksenHegeOberlaender2013, author = {Dercksen, Vincent J. and Hege, Hans-Christian and Oberlaender, Marcel}, title = {The Filament Editor: An Interactive Software Environment for Visualization, Proof-Editing and Analysis of 3D Neuron Morphology}, issn = {1438-0064}, doi = {10.1007/s12021-013-9213-2}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-43157}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Neuroanatomical analysis, such as classification of cell types, depends on reliable reconstruction of large numbers of complete 3D dendrite and axon morphologies. At present, the majority of neuron reconstructions are obtained from preparations in a single tissue slice in vitro, thus suffering from cut off dendrites and, more dramatically, cut off axons. In general, axons can innervate volumes of several cubic millimeters and may reach path lengths of tens of centimeters. Thus, their complete reconstruction requires in vivo labeling, histological sectioning and imaging of large fields of view. Unfortunately, anisotropic background conditions across such large tissue volumes, as well as faintly labeled thin neurites, result in incomplete or erroneous automated tracings and even lead experts to make annotation errors during manual reconstructions. Consequently, tracing reliability renders the major bottleneck for reconstructing complete 3D neuron morphologies. Here, we present a novel set of tools, integrated into a software environment named 'Filament Editor', for creating reliable neuron tracings from sparsely labeled in vivo datasets. The Filament Editor allows for simultaneous visualization of complex neuronal tracings and image data in a 3D viewer, proof-editing of neuronal tracings, alignment and interconnection across sections, and morphometric analysis in relation to 3D anatomical reference structures. We illustrate the functionality of the Filament Editor on the example of in vivo labeled axons and demonstrate that for the exemplary dataset the final tracing results after proof-editing are independent of the expertise of the human operator.}, language = {en} } @misc{WiebelPreisVosetal., author = {Wiebel, Alexander and Preis, Philipp and Vos, Frans M. and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Computation and Application of 3D Strokes on Visible Structures in Direct Volume Rendering}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-18070}, abstract = {In this paper we describe VisiTrace, a novel technique to draw 3D lines in 3D volume rendered images. It allows to draw strokes in the 2D space of the screen to produce 3D lines that run on top or in the center of structures actually visible in the volume rendering. It can handle structures that only shortly occlude the structure that has been visible at the starting point of the stroke and is able to ignore such structures. For this purpose a shortest path algorithm finding the optimal curve in a specially designed graph data structure is employed. We demonstrate the usefulness of the technique by applying it to MRI data from medicine and engineering, and show how the method can be used to mark or analyze structures in the example data sets, and to automatically obtain good views toward the selected structures.}, language = {en} }