A system for visualizing medical image data, comprising: a memory device for storing non-transitory computer readable program code; and a processor in communication with the memory device, the processor being operative with the computer readable program code to: (i) receive image data of a structure of interest, which is part of a subject's body, including the spine; (ii) resample the image data within a predetermined plane comprising a coronal plane and/or a sagittal plane of the part of the subject's body to generate at least one background image (922, 924) of the structure of interest, said at least one background image (922, 924) provides contextual information of the structure of interest; (iii) reconstruct, based on the image data, at least one local image (930, 932) that visually enhances at least one local region of interest including the connections between the ribs and vertebrae associated with the structure of interest, said local region of interest being an area of focus represented by a subset of the pixels representing the structure of interest or portion thereof; (iv) combine the local image (930, 932) and the background image (922, 924) to generate a composite image by aligning the local image (930, 932) with the corresponding local region of interest in the background image (922, 924); (v) perform a computer-aided detection method to detect one or more landmarks, which are the vertebrae of the spine, in the composite image or the background image (922, 924), and labeling them automatically; a memory device for storing non-transitory computer readable program code; and a processor in communication with the memory device, the processor being operative with the computer readable program code to: (i) receive image data of a structure of interest, which is part of a subject's body, including the spine; (ii) resample the image data within a predetermined plane comprising a coronal plane and/or a sagittal plane of the part of the subject's body to generate at least one background image (922, 924) of the structure of interest, said at least one background image (922, 924) provides contextual information of the structure of interest; (iii) reconstruct, based on the image data, at least one local image (930, 932) that visually enhances at least one local region of interest including the connections between the ribs and vertebrae associated with the structure of interest, said local region of interest being an area of focus represented by a subset of the pixels representing the structure of interest or portion thereof; (iv) combine the local image (930, 932) and the background image (922, 924) to generate a composite image by aligning the local image (930, 932) with the corresponding local region of interest in the background image (922, 924); (v) perform a computer-aided detection method to detect one or more landmarks, which are the vertebrae of the spine, in the composite image or the background image (922, 924), and labeling them automatically; (i) receive image data of a structure of interest, which is part of a subject's body, including the spine; (ii) resample the image data within a predetermined plane comprising a coronal plane and/or a sagittal plane of the part of the subject's body to generate at least one background image (922, 924) of the structure of interest, said at least one background image (922, 924) provides contextual information of the structure of interest; (iii) reconstruct, based on the image data, at least one local image (930, 932) that visually enhances at least one local region of interest including the connections between the ribs and vertebrae associated with the structure of interest, said local region of interest being an area of focus represented by a subset of the pixels representing the structure of interest or portion thereof; (iv) combine the local image (930, 932) and the background image (922, 924) to generate a composite image by aligning the local image (930, 932) with the corresponding local region of interest in the background image (922, 924); (v) perform a computer-aided detection method to detect one or more landmarks, which are the vertebrae of the spine, in the composite image or the background image (922, 924), and labeling them automatically;