Rasterization Method for Voxel Model Cutting

Abstract

Background. The analysis of voxel dataset cuts is a widespread task in computer graphics applications. A comprehensive study of volume image cuts enables deeper learning of the structure of an object, which is visualized, as well as getting a clear view of the organization of its components. Very often, there is a need to investigate an internal structure of the object, and in this case, researchers can be more interested in certain parts of the model, in particular, in cuts of voxel data.

Objective. The objective of the research is to develop a rasterization method which enables obtaining cuts of voxel datasets at arbitrary angles. The method should use only integer arithmetic and minimize the number of calculations.

Methods. The essence of the method is to rasterize the cutting plane by parallel transferring of master-line fragments along the base-line, as it is proposed in the weaving algorithms of rasterization. To rasterize both types of lines, it is proposed to use the Bresenham's line algorithm. The developed method consists of two stages: the initialization stage, in which both the master-line is rasterized and boundaries of rasterization fragments are found, and the main stage, when rasterization of the master-line fragments is performed within the boundaries found on the initialization stage.

Results. The developed method uses only integer arithmetic and minimizes the number of calculations in the rasterization cycles of master-line fragments which makes the use of the method sufficiently effective for rasterization of sections of voxel models.

Conclusions. The developed method can be used in various applications where three-dimensional images are used, including medical images, three-dimensional visualization in scientific applications, multimedia and mulsemedia systems.