@phdthesis{Prohaska2007, author = {Prohaska, Steffen}, title = {Skeleton-based visualization of massive voxel objects with network-like architecture}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-14888}, year = {2007}, abstract = {This work introduces novel internal and external memory algorithms for computing voxel skeletons of massive voxel objects with complex network-like architecture and for converting these voxel skeletons to piecewise linear geometry, that is triangle meshes and piecewise straight lines. The presented techniques help to tackle the challenge of visualizing and analyzing 3d images of increasing size and complexity, which are becoming more and more important in, for example, biological and medical research. Section 2.3.1 contributes to the theoretical foundations of thinning algorithms with a discussion of homotopic thinning in the grid cell model. The grid cell model explicitly represents a cell complex built of faces, edges, and vertices shared between voxels. A characterization of pairs of cells to be deleted is much simpler than characterizations of simple voxels were before. The grid cell model resolves topologically unclear voxel configurations at junctions and locked voxel configurations causing, for example, interior voxels in sets of non-simple voxels. A general conclusion is that the grid cell model is superior to indecomposable voxels for algorithms that need detailed control of topology. Section 2.3.2 introduces a noise-insensitive measure based on the geodesic distance along the boundary to compute two-dimensional skeletons. The measure is able to retain thin object structures if they are geometrically important while ignoring noise on the object's boundary. This combination of properties is not known of other measures. The measure is also used to guide erosion in a thinning process from the boundary towards lines centered within plate-like structures. Geodesic distance based quantities seem to be well suited to robustly identify one- and two-dimensional skeletons. Chapter 6 applies the method to visualization of bone micro-architecture. Chapter 3 describes a novel geometry generation scheme for representing voxel skeletons, which retracts voxel skeletons to piecewise linear geometry per dual cube. The generated triangle meshes and graphs provide a link to geometry processing and efficient rendering of voxel skeletons. The scheme creates non-closed surfaces with boundaries, which contain fewer triangles than a representation of voxel skeletons using closed surfaces like small cubes or iso-surfaces. A conclusion is that thinking specifically about voxel skeleton configurations instead of generic voxel configurations helps to deal with the topological implications. The geometry generation is one foundation of the applications presented in Chapter 6. Chapter 5 presents a novel external memory algorithm for distance ordered homotopic thinning. The presented method extends known algorithms for computing chamfer distance transformations and thinning to execute I/O-efficiently when input is larger than the available main memory. The applied block-wise decomposition schemes are quite simple. Yet it was necessary to carefully analyze effects of block boundaries to devise globally correct external memory variants of known algorithms. In general, doing so is superior to naive block-wise processing ignoring boundary effects. Chapter 6 applies the algorithms in a novel method based on confocal microscopy for quantitative study of micro-vascular networks in the field of microcirculation.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kratz2013, author = {Kratz, Andrea}, title = {Three-Dimensional Second-Order Tensor Fields: Exploratory Visualization and Anisotropic Sampling}, school = {Freie Universit{\"a}t Berlin}, pages = {XIV, 157 S.}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Tensors provide a powerful mathematical language to describe physical phenomena. Consequently, they have a long tradition in physics and appear in various application areas, either as intermediate product or as output of simulations or measurements. The potential of tensors to describe complex anisotropic behavior, however, concurrently complicates their interpretation. The central research question of this thesis is how three-dimensional tensor fields of second order are visualized effectively so that, as a long term goal, their interpretation becomes easier. The focus of this thesis lies on the class of indefinite tensors. The methods that are proposed in this thesis fall into two main categories: (1.) the interactive exploration of the three-dimensional tensor data, and (2.) the geometric reduction of the data to two-dimensional planes or triangulated surfaces. In both cases, possible visualization approaches are presented. For interactive exploration of the data, we propose to combine diagram views with three-dimensional hybrid visualizations. We show that this facilitates familiarizing with the data and leads to exciting analytic queries. If a geometric data reduction is possible, we focus on glyph- and texture-based methods. In this context, the thesis is concerned with methods to improve their quality. Therefore, we propose two algorithms for the efficient creation of anisotropic sample distributions. Moreover, we present a novel visualization method that works on planar slices as well as on triangulated surfaces. The basic idea of this method is to use anisotropic sample distributions for the efficient computation of anisotropic Voronoi cells, which then are used as base elements for texture mapping. Hence, the usage of textures to encode the tensor's various degrees of freedom becomes possible. We evaluate our methods for the interactive exploration on stress tensor fields from structure simulations. To show the ffectiveness of novel visualization methods, various datasets are presented.}, language = {en} } @misc{RammMorilloVictoriaTodtetal.2013, author = {Ramm, Heiko and Morillo Victoria, Oscar Salvador and Todt, Ingo and Schirmacher, Hartmut and Ernst, Arneborg and Zachow, Stefan and Lamecker, Hans}, title = {Visual Support for Positioning Hearing Implants}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-42495}, year = {2013}, abstract = {We present a software planning tool that provides intuitive visual feedback for finding suitable positions of hearing implants in the human temporal bone. After an automatic reconstruction of the temporal bone anatomy the tool pre-positions the implant and allows the user to adjust its position interactively with simple 2D dragging and rotation operations on the bone's surface. During this procedure, visual elements like warning labels on the implant or color encoded bone density information on the bone geometry provide guidance for the determination of a suitable fit.}, language = {en} }