ABSTRACT
The volume visualization or 3D imaging field is vibrant and one of the fastest growing fields in scientific visualization. It is focused on creating high-quality 3D images from acquired volumetric datasets to gain insights into underlying data. The biomedical field uses 3D scanning devices (computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, for instance) to generate the volumetric data. Several volume visualization techniques are devised to create a 3D view from acquired volumetric datasets. The generated 3D view provides a better understanding of patient anatomy, which helps analyze and diagnose the disease and also to decide on the most suitable treatment plan/process. Thus, in the last three decades many computer graphics programmers, biomedical engineers, and researchers have been working hard to develop time- and space-efficient volume visualization techniques. The main aim of this review is to provide detailed information about the state-of-the-art volume visualization techniques majorly applied in the biomedical field. In addition to this, recent advances in volume visualization techniques are discussed. Some commonly used tools and libraries used for volume visualization and several application areas of volume visualization in the biomedical field are explored.
