Based on the male Visible Human, we created a virtual body model of the human torso and internal organs of unprecedented detail and realism. These images created with the VOXEL-MAN 3D visualization system give an impression on the quality and functionality of the model.
In this view of the Inner Organs model, the muscles of the human torso were unveiled by removing the outer layers of the body.
The Inner Organs model consists of 650 three-dimensional anatomical objects. The larger objects (liver, kidneys, etc.) are represented as voxel objects and visualized by 3D rendering. The smaller ones like blood vessels and nerves are modeled as surface objects.
The torso anatomy model may be dissected in any direction with any number of cuts. The pictures of this series were computed with an illumination by four light sources and shadow casting.
Different viewing modes such as anatomy and X-ray imaging may be arbitrarily combined and viewed from any direction. The X-ray image may be interrogated at any point as to which objects contribute to it.
A complete X-ray view of the Inner Organs model. Any organ may be highlighted for the assessment of its manifestation in an X-ray image. Here the small intestine is highlighted in violet, the large intestine in yellow.
View of the Inner Organs model with most of the digestive system removed.
View of the Inner Organs model together with one of the famous anatomy drawings by Leonardo da Vinci (around 1500). It illustrates the development of anatomical knowledge representations from drawings to virtual body models.
View of the Inner Organs model with a transverse cut unveiling the major blood vessels and nerves of the lower abdomen. At any place, the cross-sectional anatomy and its radiological manifestation in Computer Tomography (CT) may be explored.
Applications
The presented virtual body model provides the basis for the interactive anatomical and radiological atlas VOXEL-MAN 3D Navigator: Inner Organs, which is available under a CC license.
The underlying 3D model of the Segmented Inner Organs is available for research purposes.
References
- Karl Heinz Höhne, Bernhard Pflesser, Andreas Pommert, Martin Riemer, Rainer Schubert, Thomas Schiemann, Ulf Tiede, Udo Schumacher: A realistic model of human structure from the Visible Human data. Methods of Information in Medicine 40, 2 (2001), 83-89.
- Andreas Pommert, Karl Heinz Höhne, Bernhard Pflesser, Ernst Richter, Martin Riemer, Thomas Schiemann, Rainer Schubert, Udo Schumacher, Ulf Tiede: Creating a high-resolution spatial/symbolic model of the inner organs based on the Visible Human. Medical Image Analysis 5, 3 (2001), 221-228.
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