True, a number of technical problems still need to be solved concerning image resolution and rendering, segmentation, registration and appropriate preparation of the data in order to refine and validate the simulation for routine clinical use. Very soon however, physicians will boldly enter regions of the human body which no eye has ever beheld.
Virtual endoscopy is based on the idea to represent real world objects as spatial information.
Basically, there are two methods of proceeding. The addition of colour, lighting or textural patterns enhances the details in the general structure which is rendered for visualisation by means of computer algorithms. In contrast to parallel volume rendering, the rays cast at divergent angles, originate at a finite eye position, allowing voxels in close proximity to appear larger than those situated at a distance. Still, it is possible to preserve the intrinsic 3-D richness of the volume data, including depth layers displaying for instance blood vessels in the luminal wall. These details cannot be captured in surface models.