Background: Converting the two-dimensional (2D) cross-sectional photographs into an intuitive three-dimensional (3D) model is a basic task for medical imaging data for auxiliary disease-linked diagnosis purpose.
Methods: Reconstruction and visualization process of gastrointestinal cross-sectional photographs includes image preparation, image registration, image segmentation, 3D surface-rendering reconstruction, and implementation of 3D digital visualization.
Results: Using the visualization toolkit (VTK), we implemented 3D digital reconstruction and visualization of gastrointestinal tract, whose visualized model can be zoomed, paned, and rotated, including the stomach, the small intestine, and the large intestine.
Keywords: gastrointestinal tract; marching cubes algorithm; surface reconstruction; three-dimensional visualization.