Application Gallery
Medicine: CT and MRI
In radiology, tomographic measurement such as computed tomography (CT) and magnet resonance imaging (MRI) is used to gain insight into the human body. Direct volume rendering techniques are appied to visualize the resulting data sets in 3D.

Geology: Plasticine Models of Folds and Boudins
Analoque modeling in structural geology is performed to gain insight into the deformation process of natural rock and the forces which are related to it. Throughout these experiments, the structural geometry of layered rocks is modeled by means of plasticine models. After tomographics measurement, the spatial structures inherent in such models are visualized using direct volume rendering.

Medicine: CT: Middle and Inner Ear
With high-resolution spiral-CT scanners, it is possible to record very tiny anatomical structures, such as the middle and the inner ear. The analysis of these vulnerable structures is of great importance for the planning of surgery close to the temporal bone.

Computer Science: Random Number Generators
Dan Kaminsky (doxpara.com) has pointed me to entropy visualization, an unusual application of direct volume rendering. The quality of many sequential random number generators can be evaluated by rendering a basic phase space analysis of their output.

Application Gallery
MaterialsScience: Microstructures
In materials science and enginnering, tomographic measurement is used to examine the interior of structural components and composite materials. For the visualization of such data sets direct volume rendering is essential.

History: Visualization of Archaeological Items
For the examination of archaeological items, such as ancient busts, statuettes and vases, tomographic measurement and direct volume rendering has proven helpful to visualize internal structures and to investigate the process of manufacturing.

Medicine: CT Angiography
An intracranial aneurysm is a localized abnormal dilatation of a cerebral artery filled with fluid or clotted blood, resulting from a disease of the vessel wall. As a result of a weakness of the different layers of the vessels wall, there is a considerable risk that a rupture of the aneurysm will lead to severe haemorrhage in the brain. The term angiography refers to the roentgenographic visualization of blood vessels after injection of a radiopaque substance.

Geology: Fossils
Tomographic measurement and direct volume rendering can be utilized to reveal spatial structures inside lacustrine limestone, such as fossils.

SIGGRAPH'02 IEEE VIS'02 EG 2002 SourceForge.net