A Review of Three-Dimensional Medical Image Visualization

Importance. Medical images are essential for modern medicine and an important research subject in visualization. However,medical experts are often not aware of the many advanced three-dimensional (3D) medical image visualization techniques thatcould increase their capabilities in data analysis and assist the decision-making process for specific medical problems. Ourpaper provides a review of 3D visualization techniques for medical images, intending to bridge the gap between medicalexperts and visualization researchers. Highlights. Fundamental visualization techniques are revisited for various medicalimaging modalities, from computational tomography to diffusion tensor imaging, featuring techniques that enhance spatialperception, which is critical for medical practices. The state-of-the-art of medical visualization is reviewed based on aprocedure-oriented classification of medical problems for studies of individuals and populations. This paper summarizes freesoftware tools for different modalities of medical images designed for various purposes, including visualization, analysis, andsegmentation, and it provides respective Internet links. Conclusions. Visualization techniques are a useful tool for medicalexperts to tackle specific medical problems in their daily work. Our review provides a quick reference to such techniques giventhe medical problem and modalities of associated medical images. We summarize fundamental techniques and readily availablevisualization tools to help medical experts to better understand and utilize medical imaging data. This paper could contributeto the joint effort of the medical and visualization communities to advance precision medicine.