Recent advances in GPU programmability and performance have enabled development of real-time high quality volume visualization algorithms. Medical augmented reality systems can benefit from these developments. Task-specific visualization aids physicians in better understanding the patient's anatomy and supports navigation of medical instruments in absence of a direct line of sight in minimally-invasive procedures. In this paper we present our results of integration of a hardware accelerated volume renderer into a medical augmented reality framework using a video see-through head mounted display (HMD). The performance of the system is evaluated in an experiment for two human CT datasets. Compared to the literature, our approach allows direct real-time stereo visualization of volumetric medical data on a HMD without prior time consuming pre-processing or segmentation. To further improve the visual perception and interaction of real and virtual objects, the renderer implements a virtual mirror and occlusion handling with the physicians hands and tracked medical instruments.     «

Recent advances in GPU programmability and performance have enabled development of real-time high quality volume visualization algorithms. Medical augmented reality systems can benefit from these developments. Task-specific visualization aids physicians in better understanding the patient's anatomy and supports navigation of medical instruments in absence of a direct line of sight in minimally-invasive procedures. In this paper we present our results of integration of a hardware accelerated volu...     »