Cinematic rendering – an alternative to volume rendering for 3D computed tomography imaging

AbstractVolume rendering (VR) represents today ’s standard three-dimensional (3-D) image post-processing technique, and often is used to visualize complex anatomical information. Recently, a novel 3-D technique for post-processing of computed tomography (CT) image data has been introduced, which is called cinematic rendering (CR). The objectiv e of this review is to illustrate the image appearance and potential value of CR in comparison with conventional VR in a number of various applications and different anatomical regions. Similar to VR, CR best visualizes high density and high contrast structures such as bones and contrast-enhanced ve ssels, but at the same time provides a more natural and photo-realistic illumination of the rendered data. Further research will be necessary for determining possible advantages of CR over conventional VR and over two-dimensional (2-D) image post-processing for CT image data.Teaching Points• Cinematic rendering is a novel post-processing technique for 3D visualization of CT image data.• Compared to volume rendering, CR results in a more photo-realistic representation of anatomy.• Similar to volume rendering, CR provides best image quality of high density structures.
Source: Insights into Imaging - Category: Radiology Source Type: research