Illustrative PET/CT visualisation of SIRT-treated lung metastases

We present an illustrative rendering pipeline which combines anatomical information from CT scans with functional information from PET scans. To treat lung metastases with Selective Internal Radiation Therapies (SIRTs), combined PET/CT recordings are used for treatment planning and intervention validation. We firstly extract surface meshes from the lung lobes and trachea from the CT scan. In addition, the radiation activity of the therapeutic agent 90Y is acquired from the PET data. To convey all this information in one view, we use illustrative rendering techniques, combining Order-Independent Transparencies with Boundary Enhancements and Silhouettes. Our methods are evaluated by clinical and visualisation domain experts. This study indicates an excellent spatial perception and evaluation of tumor position, metabolic and therapeutic agent activity, when transparencies and boundary enhancements are used to render the surrounding lung lobes.