Physicians are accustomed to using volumetric datasets for medical assessment, diagnosis and treatment. These modalities can be displayed with 3D computer visualizations for physicians to study the overall shape and internal anatomical structures. Gesturebased interfaces can be beneficial to interact with these kinds of visualizations in a variety of medical settings. We conducted two user studies that explore different gesture-based interfaces for interaction with volume visualizations. The first experiment focused on rotation tasks, where the performance of the gesturebased interface (using Microsoft Kinect) was compared to using the mouse. The second experiment studied localization of internal structures, comparing slice-based visualizations via gestures and the mouse, in addition to a 3D Magic Lens visualization. The results of the user studies showed that the gesture-based interface outperformed the traditional mouse both in time and accuracy in the orientation matching task. The traditional mouse was the better interface for the second experiment in terms of accuracy. However, the gesture-based Magic Lens was found to have the fastest target localization time. We discuss these findings and their further implications in the use of gesture-based interfaces in medical volume visualization.

Interactive systems are increasingly used in medical applications with the widespread availability of various imaging modalities. Gesture-based interfaces can be beneficial to interact with these kinds of systems in a variety of settings, as they can be easier to learn and can eliminate several shortcomings of traditional tactile systems, especially for surgical applications. We conducted two user studies that explore different gesture-based interfaces for interaction with volume visualizations. The first experiment focused on rotation tasks, where the performance of the gesture-based interface (using Microsoft Kinect) was compared to using the mouse. The second experiment studied localization of internal structures, comparing slice-based visualizations via gestures and the mouse, in addition to a 3D Magic Lens visualization. The results of the user studies showed that the gesture-based interface outperform the traditional mouse both in time and accuracy in the orientation matching task. The traditional mouse was the superior interface for the second experiment in terms of accuracy. However, the gesture-based Magic Lens interface was found to have the fastest target localization time. We discuss these findings and their further implications in the use of gesture-based interfaces in medical volume visualization, and discuss the possible underlying psychological mechanisms why these methods can outperform traditional interaction methods

Physicians use slices and 3D volume visualizations to place a diagnosis, establish a treatment plan and as a guide during surgical procedures. There is an observed difference in 2D and 3D visualization objectives of the various groups of specialists. We describe a generalized temporal focus + context framework that unifies different widely used and novel visualization methods. The framework is used to classify already existing common techniques and to define new techniques that can be used in medical volume visualization. The new techniques explore the time-dependent position of the framework focus region to combine 2D and 3D rendering inside the focus and to provide a new focus-driven context region that gives explicit spatial perception cues between the current and past regions of interest. An arbitrary-shaped focus region and no context rendering are two novel framework-based techniques that support improved planning of procedures that involve drilling or endoscopic exploration. The new techniques are quantitatively compared to already existing techniques by means of a user study.