"(Computer Graphics World, December 2000)"

Visualization is a key component of several cutting-edge technologies that appeared at a recent Internet2 meeting. The Virtual Aneurysm, for example, is an application that simulates the blood flow in a patient's vessels to help surgeons prevent potentially fatal aneurysms. The system, developed by UCLA researchers, uses data from X-rays of a patient's blood vessels to create geometric and mathematical models of the vessels in a 3D virtual environment. Segmentation software helps differentiate vessels from surrounding tissues, and triangulation software builds a 3D model of the vessel. The 3D model is then used in a computational fluid dynamics program, producing a simulation of fluid movement through the vessel. The Virtual Aneurysm aims to advance the new field of endovascular therapy, a method of treating aneurysms by filling them with special coils that prevent rupture. This new application will run on the next-generation Internet2, which will provide the infrastructure needed to make remote visualization reliable and to guarantee display rates, says Daniel Valentino, a radiology and biomedical engineering professor who helped create the Virtual Aneurysm. The Internet2 will enable surgeons to consult with remote colleagues in real time and possibly to supervise actual surgeries remotely.