Recent results in color compositing of three-parameter magnetic resonance scans as a preoperative aid to the management of upper limb sarcomas

We report on improved image quality and some recent clinical results with volume-rendered, color composite, multiparameter, magnetic resonance (MR) datasets and their color histograms. In a previous article we demonstrated the major components of an interactive visualization environment for multiparameter T-1, T-2-, PD-weighted MR volume datasets. These are compositing of the three parametric volumes, color volume rendering of the resulting composite, interactive segmentation of the tissues based on color cluster statistics derived from display of the three-dimensional (3D) histogram, and head-tracking stereo display. We herein review the system design and describe improvements to the quality of the color volume rendering, in the display of the 3D color histogram data, and in the specification of the volume renderer's opacity function. Finally, we report on some recent clinical results using our system.