@inproceedings{SenguptaKuşLietal.2026, author = {Sengupta, Agniva and Ku{\c{s}}, Dilara and Li, Jianning and Zachow, Stefan}, title = {Globally Optimal Pose from Orthographic Silhouettes}, year = {2026}, abstract = {We solve the problem of determining the pose of known shapes in R^3 from their unoccluded silhouettes. The pose is determined up to global optimality using a simple yet under-explored property of the area-of-silhouette: its continuity w.r.t trajectories in the rotation space. The proposed method utilises pre-computed silhouette-signatures, modelled as a response surface of the area-of-silhouettes. Querying this silhouette-signature response surface for pose estimation leads to a strong branching of the rotation search space, making resolution-guided candidate search feasible. Additionally, we utilise the aspect ratio of 2D ellipses fitted to projected silhouettes as an auxiliary global shape signature to accelerate the pose search. This combined strategy forms the first method to efficiently estimate globally optimal pose from just the silhouettes, without being guided by correspondences, for any shape, irrespective of its convexity and genus. We validate our method on synthetic and real examples, demonstrating significantly improved accuracy against comparable approaches.}, language = {en} } @article{TrepczynskiKneifelHeylandetal.2025, author = {Trepczynski, Adam and Kneifel, Paul and Heyland, Mark and Leskovar, Marko and Moewis, Philippe and Damm, Philipp and Taylor, William R. and Zachow, Stefan and Duda, Georg N.}, title = {Impact of the external knee flexion moment on patello-femoral loading derived from in vivo loads and kinematics}, volume = {12/2024}, journal = {Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology}, publisher = {Frontiers Media SA}, organization = {Charit{\´e} - Universit{\"a}tsmedizin Berlin}, issn = {2296-4185}, doi = {10.3389/fbioe.2024.1473951}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Introduction: Anterior knee pain and other patello-femoral (PF) complications frequently limit the success of total knee arthroplasty as the final treatment of end stage osteoarthritis. However, knowledge about the in-vivo loading conditions at the PF joint remains limited, as no direct measurements are available. We hypothesised that the external knee flexion moment (EFM) is highly predictive of the PF contact forces during activities with substantial flexion of the loaded knee. Materials and methods: Six patients (65-80 years, 67-101 kg) with total knee arthroplasty (TKA) performed two activities of daily living: sit-stand-sit and squat. Tibio-femoral (TF) contact forces were measured in vivo using instrumented tibial components, while synchronously internal TF and PF kinematics were captured with mobile fluoroscopy. The measurements were used to compute PF contact forces using patient specific musculoskeletal models. The relationship between the EFM and the PF contact force was quantified using linear regression. Results: Mean peak TF contact forces of 1.97-3.24 times body weight (BW) were found while peak PF forces reached 1.75 to 3.29 times body weight (BW). The peak EFM ranged from 3.2 to 5.9 \%BW times body height, and was a good predictor of the PF contact force (R2 = 0.95 and 0.88 for sit-stand-sit and squat, respectively). Discussion: The novel combination of in vivo TF contact forces and internal patellar kinematics enabled a reliable assessment of PF contact forces. The results of the regression analysis suggest that PF forces can be estimated based solely on the EFM from quantitative gait analysis. Our study also demonstrates the relevance of PF contact forces, which reach magnitudes similar to TF forces during activities of daily living.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{ManogueSchangKuşetal.2025, author = {Manogue, Kevin and Schang, Tomasz and Ku{\c{s}}, Dilara and M{\"u}ller, Jonas and Zachow, Stefan and Sengupta, Agniva}, title = {Generalizing Shape-from-Template to Topological Changes}, booktitle = {Smart Tools and Applications in Graphics - Eurographics Italian Chapter Conference}, publisher = {The Eurographics Association}, isbn = {978-3-03868-296-7}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2511.03459}, doi = {10.2312/stag.20251322}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Reconstructing the surfaces of deformable objects from correspondences between a 3D template and a 2D image is well studied under Shape-from-Template (SfT) methods; however, existing approaches break down when topological changes accompany the deformation. We propose a principled extension of SfT that enables reconstruction in the presence of such changes. Our approach is initialized with a classical SfT solution and iteratively adapts the template by partitioning its spatial domain so as to minimize an energy functional that jointly encodes physical plausibility and reprojection consistency. We demonstrate that the method robustly captures a wide range of practically relevant topological events including tears and cuts on bounded 2D surfaces, thereby establishing the first general framework for topological-change-aware SfT. Experiments on both synthetic and real data confirm that our approach consistently outperforms baseline methods.}, language = {en} } @article{LiBitterNguyenetal.2025, author = {Li, Jianning and Bitter, Kerstin and Nguyen, Anh Duc and Shemesh, Hagay and Zaslansky, Paul and Zachow, Stefan}, title = {Computational Insights into Root Canal Treatment: A Survey of Selected Methods in Imaging, Segmentation, Morphological Analysis, and Clinical Management}, volume = {13}, journal = {dentistry journal}, number = {12}, publisher = {MDPI}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/dj13120579}, pages = {27}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Background/Objectives: Root canal treatment (RCT) is a common dental procedure performed to preserve teeth by removing infected or at-risk pulp tissue caused by caries, trauma, or other pulpal conditions. A successful outcome, among others, depends on accurate identification of the root canal anatomy, planning a suitable therapeutic strategy, and ensuring a bacteria-tight root canal filling. Despite advances in dental techniques, there remains limited integration of computational methods to support key stages of treatment. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of computational methods applied throughout the full workflow of RCT, examining their potential to support clinical decision-making, improve treatment planning and outcome assessment, and help bridge the interdisciplinary gap between dentistry and computational research. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify and analyze computational methods applied to different stages of RCT, including root canal segmentation, morphological analysis, treatment planning, quality evaluation, follow-up, and prognosis prediction. In addition, a taxonomy based on application was developed to categorize these methods based on their function within the treatment process. Insights from the authors' own research experience were also incorporated to highlight implementation challenges and practical considerations. Results: The review identified a wide range of computational methods aimed at enhancing the consistency and efficiency of RCT. Key findings include the use of advanced image processing for segmentation, image analysis for diagnosis and treatment planning, machine learning for morphological classification, and predictive modeling for outcome estimation. While some methods demonstrate high sensitivity and specificity in diagnostic and planning tasks, many remain in experimental stages and lack clinical integration. There is also a noticeable absence of advanced computational techniques for micro-computed tomography and morphological analysis. Conclusions: Computational methods offer significant potential to improve decision-making and outcomes in RCT. However, greater focus on clinical translation and development of cross-modality methodology is needed. The proposed taxonomy provides a structured framework for organizing existing methods and identifying future research directions tailored to specific phases of treatment. This review serves as a resource for both dental professionals, computer scientists and researchers seeking to bridge the gap between clinical practice and computational innovation.}, language = {en} } @article{LeskovarHeylandTrepczynskietal.2025, author = {Leskovar, Marko and Heyland, Mark and Trepczynski, Adam and Zachow, Stefan}, title = {Comparison of Global and Local Optimization Methods for Intensity-based 2D-3D Registration}, volume = {186}, journal = {Computers in Biology and Medicine}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.109574}, pages = {109574}, year = {2025}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SiqueiraRodriguesKoschNyakaturaetal.2025, author = {Siqueira Rodrigues, Lucas and Kosch, Thomas and Nyakatura, John and Zachow, Stefan and Israel, Johann Habakuk}, title = {MorphoHaptics: An Open-Source Tool for Visuohaptic Exploration of Morphological Image Datasets}, booktitle = {KUI '24: Proceedings of the 21th International Conference on Culture and Computer Science: from Humanism to Digital Humanities}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2409.17766}, doi = {10.1145/3719236.3719271}, pages = {1 -- 10}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Although digital methods have significantly advanced morphology, practitioners are still challenged to understand and process tomographic data of specimens. As automated processing of fossil data is still insufficient, morphologists still engage in intensive manual work to digitally prepare fossils for research objectives. We present an open-source tool that enables morphologists to explore tomographic data similarly to the physical workflows that traditional fossil preparators experience in the field. Using questionnaires, we assessed the usability of our prototype for virtual fossil preparation and related common tasks in the digital preparation workflow. Our findings indicate that integrating haptics into the virtual preparation workflow enhances the understanding of the morphology and material properties of working specimens and that the visuohaptic sculpting of fossil volumes is straightforward and is an improvement over current digital specimen processing methods.}, language = {en} } @article{SenguptaZachow2025, author = {Sengupta, Agniva and Zachow, Stefan}, title = {Shape-from-Template with Generalised Camera}, volume = {162}, journal = {Image and Vision Computing}, doi = {10.1016/j.imavis.2025.105579}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This article presents a new method for non-rigidly registering a 3D shape to 2D keypoints observed by a constellation of multiple cameras. Non-rigid registration of a 3D shape to observed 2D keypoints, i.e., Shape-from-Template (SfT), has been widely studied using single images, but SfT with information from multiple-cameras jointly opens new directions for extending the scope of known use-cases such as 3D shape registration in medical imaging and registration from hand-held cameras, to name a few. We represent such multi-camera setup with the generalised camera model; therefore any collection of perspective or orthographic cameras observing any deforming object can be registered. We propose multiple approaches for such SfT: the first approach where the corresponded keypoints lie on a direction vector from a known 3D point in space, the second approach where the corresponded keypoints lie on a direction vector from an unknown 3D point in space but with known orientation w.r.t some local reference frame, and a third approach where, apart from correspondences, the silhouette of the imaged object is also known. Together, these form the first set of solutions to the SfT problem with generalised cameras. The key idea behind SfT with generalised camera is the improved reconstruction accuracy from estimating deformed shape while utilising the additional information from the mutual constraints between multiple views of a deformed object. The correspondence-based approaches are solved with convex programming while the silhouette-based approach is an iterative refinement of the results from the convex solutions. We demonstrate the accuracy of our proposed methods on many synthetic and real data.}, language = {en} } @article{DeppeGabrieleMazzolenietal.2025, author = {Deppe, Dominik and Gabriele, Matteo and Mazzoleni, Manuel Giovanni and Ordas-Bayon, Alejandro and Fidanza, Andrea and Rozhko, Yuriy and Şim{\c{s}}ek, Ekin Kaya and Keltz, Eran and Osterhoff, Georg and Damm, Philipp and Duda, Georg N. and Leskovar, Marko and Zachow, Stefan and Trepczynski, Adam and Heyland, Mark}, title = {Interobserver Reliability of the Modified Radiographic Union Score (mRUST) for Tibial and Femoral Fractures}, volume = {39}, journal = {Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma}, number = {10}, issn = {0890-5339}, doi = {10.1097/BOT.0000000000003032}, pages = {557 -- 563}, year = {2025}, abstract = {OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the reliability of the modified Radiographic Union Score for Tibial fractures (mRUST) as a reliable tool for monitoring lower limb fractures (femur, tibia) treated with various modalities (nail, plate). METHODS: Design: Retrospective analysis. Setting: Single center academic hospital in Germany. Patient Selection Criteria: Adult patients (≥18 years) with extra-articular long bone fractures of the lower extremities treated surgically between January 2005 and April 2022, requiring radiographs in two perpendicular planes and at least one follow-up visit, were included. Exclusion criteria were critical clinical conditions, inability to consent, joint articulation fractures, inadequate documentation, or insufficient imaging quality. Outcome Measures and Comparisons: Six international investigators (five orthopedic surgeons, one radiologist) independently assessed fracture line and callus growth per cortex (mRUST) at individualized follow-up time points based on clinical practice. To evaluate interrater reliability, intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated for the overall dataset, and for subsets of rated images, that were defined based on anatomical location (femur/tibia), treatment type (plate/nail fixation), and treatment combinations across locations. RESULTS: A total of 166 patients (63 femur fractures, 103 tibia fractures; 32.5\% female, mean age 43.4 (18-84)) with 1136 follow-up time points were analyzed. Overall interrater reliability for mRUST was good (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.77), consistent across fixation methods (nail/plate fixation, 0.79) and anatomical locations (tibia, 0.78; femur, 0.81). Cortex-specific reliability varied, with highest agreement for the medial cortex (0.70-0.74) and lowest for the posterior cortex (0.65-0.74). CONCLUSIONS: The mRUST (radiographic score) demonstrated reliability for monitoring fracture healing in the femur and tibia, irrespective of fixation method, supporting its use as a generalizable tool across lower limb fractures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.}, language = {en} } @article{XieGruberCrampenetal.2025, author = {Xie, Kunpeng and Gruber, Lennart Johannes and Crampen, Martin and Li, Yao and Ferreira, Andr{\´e} and Tappeiner, Elias and Gillot, Maxime and Schepers, Jan and Xu, Jiangchang and Pankert, Tobias and Beyer, Michel and Shahamiri, Negar and ten Brink, Reinier and Dot, Gauthier and Weschke, Charlotte and van Nistelrooij, Niels and Verhelst, Pieter-Jan and Guo, Yan and Xu, Zhibin and Bienzeisler, Jonas and Rashad, Ashkan and Fl{\"u}gge, Tabea and Cotton, Ross and Vinayahalingam, Shankeeth and Ilesan, Robert and Raith, Stefan and Madsen, Dennis and Seibold, Constantin and Xi, Tong and Berg{\´e}, Stefaan and Nebelung, Sven and Kodym, Oldřich and Sundqvist, Osku and Thieringer, Florian and Lamecker, Hans and Coppens, Antoine and Potrusil, Thomas and Kraeima, Joep and Witjes, Max and Wu, Guomin and Chen, Xiaojun and Lambrechts, Adriaan and Cevidanes, Lucia H Soares and Zachow, Stefan and Hermans, Alexander and Truhn, Daniel and Alves, Victor and Egger, Jan and R{\"o}hrig, Rainer and H{\"o}lzle, Frank and Puladi, Behrus}, title = {Beyond Benchmarks: Towards Robust Artificial Intelligence Bone Segmentation in Socio-Technical Systems}, volume = {299}, journal = {Expert Systems With Applications}, number = {Part D}, doi = {10.1016/j.eswa.2025.130031}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Despite the advances in automated medical image segmentation, AI models still underperform in various clinical settings, challenging real-world integration. In this multicenter evaluation, we analyzed 20 state-of-the-art mandibular segmentation models across 19,218 segmentations of 1,000 clinically resampled CT/CBCT scans. We show that segmentation accuracy varies by up to 25\% depending on socio-technical factors such as voxel size, bone orientation, and patient conditions such as osteosynthesis or pathology. Higher sharpness, isotropic smaller voxels, and neutral orientation significantly improved results, while metallic osteosynthesis and anatomical complexity led to significant degradation. Our findings challenge the common view of AI models as "plug-and-play" tools and suggest evidence-based optimization recommendations for both clinicians and developers. This will in turn boost the integration of AI segmentation tools in routine healthcare.}, language = {en} } @article{KomnikFunkenZachowetal.2024, author = {Komnik, Igor and Funken, Johannes and Zachow, Stefan and Schmidt-Wiethoff, R{\"u}diger and Ellermann, Andree and Potthast, Wolfgang}, title = {Surgical planning in HTO - Alternative approaches to the Fujisawa gold-standard}, journal = {Technology and Health Care}, doi = {10.1177/09287329241299568}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-98227}, year = {2024}, abstract = {BACKGROUND: Presurgical planning of the correction angle plays a decisive role in a high tibial osteotomy, affecting the loading situation in the knee affected by osteoarthritis. The planning approach by Fujisawa et al. aims to adjust the weight-bearing line to achieve an optimal knee joint load distribution. While this method is accessible, it may not fully consider the complexity of individual dynamic knee-loading profiles. This review aims to disclose existing alternative HTO planning methods that do not follow Fujisawa's standard. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science and CENTRAL databases were screened, focusing on HTO research in combination with alternative planning approaches. RESULTS: Eight out of 828 studies were included, with seven simulation studies based on finite element analysis and multi-body dynamics. The planning approaches incorporated gradual degrees of realignment parameters (weight-bearing line shift, medial proximal tibial angle, hip- knee-ankle, knee joint line orientation), simulating their effect on knee kinematics, contact force/stress, Von Mises and shear stress. Two studies proposed implementing individual correction magnitudes derived from preoperatively predicted knee adduction moments. CONCLUSION: Most planning methods depend on static alignment assessments, neglecting an adequate loading-depending profile. They are confined to their conceptual phases, making the associated planning methods unviable for current clinical use.}, language = {en} } @article{SiqueiraRodriguesSchmidtIsraeletal.2024, author = {Siqueira Rodrigues, Lucas and Schmidt, Timo Torsten and Israel, Johann Habakuk and Nyakatura, John and Zachow, Stefan and Kosch, Thomas}, title = {Comparing the Effects of Visual, Haptic, and Visuohaptic Encoding on Memory Retention of Digital Objects in Virtual Reality}, journal = {NordiCHI '24: Proceedings of the 13th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2406.14139}, doi = {10.1145/3679318.3685349}, pages = {1 -- 13}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Although Virtual Reality (VR) has undoubtedly improved human interaction with 3D data, users still face difficulties retaining important details of complex digital objects in preparation for physical tasks. To address this issue, we evaluated the potential of visuohaptic integration to improve the memorability of virtual objects in immersive visualizations. In a user study (N=20), participants performed a delayed match-to-sample task where they memorized stimuli of visual, haptic, or visuohaptic encoding conditions. We assessed performance differences between the conditions through error rates and response time. We found that visuohaptic encoding significantly improved memorization accuracy compared to unimodal visual and haptic conditions. Our analysis indicates that integrating haptics into immersive visualizations enhances the memorability of digital objects. We discuss its implications for the optimal encoding design in VR applications that assist professionals who need to memorize and recall virtual objects in their daily work.}, language = {en} } @article{SiqueiraRodriguesSchmidtNyakaturaetal.2024, author = {Siqueira Rodrigues, Lucas and Schmidt, Timo Torsten and Nyakatura, John and Zachow, Stefan and Israel, Johann Habakuk and Kosch, Thomas}, title = {Assessing the Effects of Sensory Modality Conditions on Object Retention across Virtual Reality and Projected Surface Display Environments}, volume = {8}, journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction}, number = {ISS}, doi = {10.1145/3698137}, pages = {255 -- 282}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Haptic feedback reportedly enhances human interaction with 3D data, particularly improving the retention of mental representations of digital objects in immersive settings. However, the effectiveness of visuohaptic integration in promoting object retention across different display environments remains underexplored. Our study extends previous research on the retention effects of haptics from virtual reality to a projected surface display to assess whether earlier findings generalize to 2D environments. Participants performed a delayed match-to-sample task incorporating visual, haptic, and visuohaptic sensory feedback within a projected surface display environment. We compared error rates and response times across these sensory modalities and display environments. Our results reveal that visuohaptic integration significantly enhances object retention on projected surfaces, benefiting task performance across display environments. Our findings suggest that haptics can improve object retention without requiring fully immersive setups, offering insights for the design of interactive systems that assist professionals who rely on precise mental representations of digital objects.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SiqueiraRodriguesNyakaturaZachowetal.2024, author = {Siqueira Rodrigues, Lucas and Nyakatura, John and Zachow, Stefan and Israel, Johann Habakuk and Kosch, Thomas}, title = {Evaluating Visuohaptic Integration on Memory Retention of Morphological Tomographic Images}, booktitle = {The 19th ACM SIGGRAPH International Conference on Virtual-Reality Continuum and its Applications in Industry}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, doi = {10.1145/3703619.3706055}, pages = {1 -- 10}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Scientific visualization and tomographic imaging techniques have created unprecedented possibilities for non-destructive analyses of digital specimens in morphology. However, practitioners encounter difficulties retaining critical information from complex tomographic volumes in their workflows. In light of this challenge, we investigated the effectiveness of visuohaptic integration in enhancing memory retention of morphological data. In a within-subjects user study (N=18), participants completed a delayed match-to-sample task, where we compared error rates and response times across visual and visuohaptic sensory modality conditions. Our results indicate that visuohaptic encoding improves the retention of tomographic images, producing significantly reduced error rates and faster response times than its unimodal visual counterpart. Our findings suggest that integrating haptics into scientific visualization interfaces may support professionals in fields such as morphology, where accurate retention of complex spatial data is essential for efficient analysis and decision-making within virtual environments.}, language = {en} } @article{TrepczynskiKneifelHeylandetal.2024, author = {Trepczynski, Adam and Kneifel, Paul and Heyland, Mark and Leskovar, Marko and Moewis, Philippe and Damm, Philipp and Taylor, William R. and Zachow, Stefan and Duda, Georg}, title = {Impact of the External Knee Flexion Moment on Patello-Femoral Loading Derived from in vivo Loads and Kinematics}, volume = {12}, journal = {Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology}, doi = {10.3389/fbioe.2024.1473951}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Anterior knee pain and other patello-femoral (PF) complications frequently limit the success of total knee arthroplasty as the final treatment of end stage osteoarthritis. However, knowledge about the invivo loading conditions at the PF joint remains limited, as no direct measurements are available. We hypothesised that the external knee flexion moment (EFM) is highly predictive of the PF contact forces during activities with substantial flexion of the loaded knee.Six patients (65-80 years, 67-101 kg) with total knee arthroplasty (TKA) performed two activities of daily living: sit-stand-sit and squat. Tibio-femoral (TF) contact forces were measured in vivo using instrumented tibial components, while synchronously internal TF and PF kinematics were captured with mobile fluoroscopy. The measurements were used to compute PF contact forces using patient specific musculoskeletal models. The relationship between the EFM and the PF contact force was quantified using linear regression.Mean peak TF contact forces of 1.97 to 3.24 times body weight (BW) were found while peak PF forces reached 1.75 to 3.29 times body weight (BW). The peak EFM ranged from 3.2 to 5.9 \%BW times body height, and was a good predictor of the PF contact force (R^2 = 0.95 and 0.88 for sit-standsit and squat, respectively).The novel combination of in vivo TF contact forces and internal patellar kinematics enabled a reliable assessment of PF contact forces. The results of the regression analysis suggest that PF forces can be estimated based solely on the EFM from quantitative gait analysis. Our study also demonstrates the relevance of PF contact forces, which reach magnitudes similar to TF forces during activities of daily living.}, language = {en} } @article{AmiranashviliLuedkeLietal.2024, author = {Amiranashvili, Tamaz and L{\"u}dke, David and Li, Hongwei Bran and Zachow, Stefan and Menze, Bjoern}, title = {Learning continuous shape priors from sparse data with neural implicit functions}, volume = {94}, journal = {Medical Image Analysis}, doi = {10.1016/j.media.2024.103099}, pages = {103099}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Statistical shape models are an essential tool for various tasks in medical image analysis, including shape generation, reconstruction and classification. Shape models are learned from a population of example shapes, which are typically obtained through segmentation of volumetric medical images. In clinical practice, highly anisotropic volumetric scans with large slice distances are prevalent, e.g., to reduce radiation exposure in CT or image acquisition time in MR imaging. For existing shape modeling approaches, the resolution of the emerging model is limited to the resolution of the training shapes. Therefore, any missing information between slices prohibits existing methods from learning a high-resolution shape prior. We propose a novel shape modeling approach that can be trained on sparse, binary segmentation masks with large slice distances. This is achieved through employing continuous shape representations based on neural implicit functions. After training, our model can reconstruct shapes from various sparse inputs at high target resolutions beyond the resolution of individual training examples. We successfully reconstruct high-resolution shapes from as few as three orthogonal slices. Furthermore, our shape model allows us to embed various sparse segmentation masks into a common, low-dimensional latent space — independent of the acquisition direction, resolution, spacing, and field of view. We show that the emerging latent representation discriminates between healthy and pathological shapes, even when provided with sparse segmentation masks. Lastly, we qualitatively demonstrate that the emerging latent space is smooth and captures characteristic modes of shape variation. We evaluate our shape model on two anatomical structures: the lumbar vertebra and the distal femur, both from publicly available datasets.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SiqueiraRodriguesRiehmZachowetal.2023, author = {Siqueira Rodrigues, Lucas and Riehm, Felix and Zachow, Stefan and Israel, Johann Habakuk}, title = {VoxSculpt: An Open-Source Voxel Library for Tomographic Volume Sculpting in Virtual Reality}, booktitle = {2023 9th International Conference on Virtual Reality (ICVR), Xianyang, China, 2023}, doi = {10.1109/ICVR57957.2023.10169420}, pages = {515 -- 523}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Manual processing of tomographic data volumes, such as interactive image segmentation in medicine or paleontology, is considered a time-consuming and cumbersome endeavor. Immersive volume sculpting stands as a potential solution to improve its efficiency and intuitiveness. However, current open-source software solutions do not yield the required performance and functionalities. We address this issue by contributing a novel open-source game engine voxel library that supports real-time immersive volume sculpting. Our design leverages GPU instancing, parallel computing, and a chunk-based data structure to optimize collision detection and rendering. We have implemented features that enable fast voxel interaction and improve precision. Our benchmark evaluation indicates that our implementation offers a significant improvement over the state-of-the-art and can render and modify millions of visible voxels while maintaining stable performance for real-time interaction in virtual reality.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SiqueiraRodriguesNyakaturaZachowetal.2023, author = {Siqueira Rodrigues, Lucas and Nyakatura, John and Zachow, Stefan and Israel, Johann Habakuk}, title = {Design Challenges and Opportunities of Fossil Preparation Tools and Methods}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Culture and Computer Science: Code and Materiality}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, doi = {10.1145/3623462.3623470}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Fossil preparation is the activity of processing paleontological specimens for research and exhibition purposes. In addition to traditional mechanical extraction of fossils, preparation presently comprises non-destructive digital methods that are part of a relatively new field, namely virtual paleontology. Despite significant technological advances, both traditional and digital preparation remain cumbersome and time-consuming endeavors. However, this field has received scarce attention from a human-computer interaction perspective. The present study aims to elucidate the state-of-the-art for paleontological fossil preparation in order to determine its main challenges and start a conversation regarding opportunities for creating novel designs that tackle the field's current issues. We conducted a qualitative study involving both technical preparators and virtual paleontologists. The study was divided into two parts: First, we assembled technical preparators and paleontology researchers in a focus group session to discuss their workflows, obtain a preliminary understanding of their issues, and ideate solutions based on their counterparts' workflows. Next, we conducted a series of contextual inquiries involving direct observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews. We transcribed our recordings and examined the data through theoretical and inductive thematic analysis, clustering emerging themes and applying concepts from human-computer interaction and related fields. Our findings report on challenges faced by traditional and digital fossil preparators and potential opportunities to improve their tools and workflows. We contribute with a novel analysis of fossil preparation from an HCI perspective.}, language = {en} } @article{WagendorfNahlesVachetal.2023, author = {Wagendorf, Oliver and Nahles, Susanne and Vach, Kirstin and Kernen, Florian and Zachow, Stefan and Heiland, Max and Fl{\"u}gge, Tabea}, title = {The impact of teeth and dental restorations on gray value distribution in cone-beam computer tomography - a pilot study}, volume = {9}, journal = {International Journal of Implant Dentistry}, number = {27}, doi = {10.1186/s40729-023-00493-z}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Purpose: To investigate the influence of teeth and dental restorations on the facial skeleton's gray value distributions in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods: Gray value selection for the upper and lower jaw segmentation was performed in 40 patients. In total, CBCT data of 20 maxillae and 20 mandibles, ten partial edentulous and ten fully edentulous in each jaw, respectively, were evaluated using two different gray value selection procedures: manual lower threshold selection and automated lower threshold selection. Two sample t tests, linear regression models, linear mixed models, and Pearson's correlation coefficients were computed to evaluate the influence of teeth, dental restorations, and threshold selection procedures on gray value distributions. Results: Manual threshold selection resulted in significantly different gray values in the fully and partially edentulous mandible. (p = 0.015, difference 123). In automated threshold selection, only tendencies to different gray values in fully edentulous compared to partially edentulous jaws were observed (difference: 58-75). Significantly different gray values were evaluated for threshold selection approaches, independent of the dental situation of the analyzed jaw. No significant correlation between the number of teeth and gray values was assessed, but a trend towards higher gray values in patients with more teeth was noted. Conclusions: Standard gray values derived from CT imaging do not apply for threshold-based bone segmentation in CBCT. Teeth influence gray values and segmentation results. Inaccurate bone segmentation may result in ill-fitting surgical guides produced on CBCT data and misinterpreting bone density, which is crucial for selecting surgical protocols.}, language = {en} } @article{GreweLiuHildebrandtetal.2022, author = {Grewe, Carl Martin and Liu, Tuo and Hildebrandt, Andrea and Zachow, Stefan}, title = {The Open Virtual Mirror Framework for Enfacement Illusions - Enhancing the Sense of Agency With Avatars That Imitate Facial Expressions}, journal = {Behavior Research Methods}, publisher = {Springer}, doi = {10.3758/s13428-021-01761-9}, year = {2022}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{SiqueiraRodriguesNyakaturaZachowetal.2022, author = {Siqueira Rodrigues, Lucas and Nyakatura, John and Zachow, Stefan and Israel, Johann Habakuk}, title = {An Immersive Virtual Paleontology Application}, booktitle = {13th International Conference on Human Haptic Sensing and Touch Enabled Computer Applications, EuroHaptics 2022}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-06249-0}, pages = {478 -- 481}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Virtual paleontology studies digital fossils through data analysis and visualization systems. The discipline is growing in relevance for the evident advantages of non-destructive imaging techniques over traditional paleontological methods, and it has made significant advancements during the last few decades. However, virtual paleontology still faces a number of technological challenges, amongst which are interaction shortcomings of image segmentation applications. Whereas automated segmentation methods are seldom applicable to fossil datasets, manual exploration of these specimens is extremely time-consuming as it impractically delves into three-dimensional data through two-dimensional visualization and interaction means. This paper presents an application that employs virtual reality and haptics to virtual paleontology in order to evolve its interaction paradigms and address some of its limitations. We provide a brief overview of the challenges faced by virtual paleontology practitioners, a description of our immersive virtual paleontology prototype, and the results of a heuristic evaluation of our design.}, language = {en} }