Virtual endoscopy in research and clinical practice

Virtual endoscopy is among the most active topics in virtual medicine and medical imaging. It focuses on the virtual representation of minimally invasive procedures for training, planning and diagnosis without an actual invasive intervention. In the past few years, virtual endoscopy modes have been transferred from research systems in virtually every commercial medical imaging software, but with varying quality and flexibility. This report covers concepts used in current systems in research and products, and how they might be applied to daily practice in health care. Specifically, I will start with an introduction into virtual endoscopy and the related medical field. This will also include typical scenarios of virtual endoscopy applications as they appear in clinical practice. This part will be followed by a discussion of the technical issues of virtual endoscopy and how they are addressed in currently available systems. Among these issues are navigation through the respective body organ and the orientation aids for the users. In addition, I will highlight the different rendering techniques used and its impact on rendering speed and quality.