New paradigms for interactive 3D volume segmentation

We present a new virtual reality‐based interaction metaphor for semi‐automatic segmentation of medical 3D volume data. The mouse‐based, manual initialization of deformable surfaces in 3D represents a major bottleneck in interactive segmentation. In our multi‐modal system we enhance this process with additional sensory feedback. A 3D haptic device is used to extract the centreline of a tubular structure. Based on the obtained path a cylinder with varying diameter is generated, which in turn is used as the initial guess for a deformable surface. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.