Real-time volume manipulation

In this paper, we describe a set of algorithms and an implementation (called VolEdit), for interactively manipulating 3D volumetric objects (datasets). The system utilizes skeletons, which allows users/animators to interactively and intuitively specify the location and type of deformation desired. The skeleton is extracted automatically from the volumetric model and indexes the appropriate part of the volume that needs to be transformed by defining piecewise bounds of the volume. The deformed volume is then reconstructed and rendered using commodity graphics cards. The system performs in real-time with near-interactive speeds. The VolEdit system is demonstrated with two volumes, the Visible Human Dataset and a colon MRI dataset.