Occlusion-free Blood Flow Animation with Wall Thickness Visualization.

Area of Science:

• Medical Visualization
• Biomedical Engineering
• Computational Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Aneurysms pose significant rupture and treatment risks, necessitating comprehensive analysis.
• Assessing aneurysm risk requires understanding both vessel morphology and hemodynamic data.
• Wall thickness analysis is increasingly recognized as crucial for accurate risk stratification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop the first visualization tool combining blood flow pathlines and wall thickness information.
• To provide medical researchers with an effective visual analysis tool for aneurysm treatment risk assessment.
• To address occlusion problems in visualizing intertwined vessel and flow data.

Main Methods:

• Utilized illustrative techniques for occlusion-free visualization of blood flow.
• Implemented dynamic cutaway surfaces to resolve occlusion issues.
• Combined glyph-based flow representation with visual mapping of wall thickness onto the vessel surface.
• Developed a GPU-based implementation for real-time rendering and interactive exploration.

Main Results:

• Successfully integrated blood flow pathlines and wall thickness data into a single visualization.
• Demonstrated occlusion-free visualization of complex vascular structures and flow dynamics.
• Enabled real-time analysis and interactive exploration of aneurysm data.

Conclusions:

• The developed tool significantly improves the exploration and analysis of aneurysms.
• Combining blood flow and wall thickness visualization offers a more informed approach to aneurysm treatment risk assessment.
• The tool, designed with domain experts, provides a valuable asset for medical research and clinical decision-making.