VoxBlast

1. Platform, Price, and Company

          Platform

• Windows -

  - IBM PC compatible computer.
  - Minimum of 300 MHz Pentium II class microprocessor.
  - Minimum of 256 MB RAM.
  - Minimum of 37 MB free disk space to install the VolumePro 1000 and VoxBlast software.
  - One full length 66 MHz 64 bit PCI slot (for the VolumePro 1000 board).
  - An otherwise unused blank I/O slot (for the external power). The blank I/O slot does not have to be immediately adjacent to the VolumePro 1000 board and does not require an associated board connector. Many computers include one blank I/O plate beyond the last expansion board connector. This can be used for the VolumePro 1000 power.
  - High end graphics accelerator card such as a card that uses the GeForce2 or 3 technology.
  - For embedded geometry applications, a 3D graphics board on the AGP port with the following characteristics:
  - Minimum of 120 MB/second texture download speed.
  - Minimum of 120 M texels/second texture mapping performance.
  - Fast color and depth buffer read.
  - For example, a 3D Labs, Inc. Oxygen VX1 graphics board.

  Software Requirements:
  Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack(SP) 6a or Windows 2000 with SP 1 or later

   

• Mac -

  -Power Mac/Mac, 500 Mb hard disk

  -48 Mb RAM minimum (larger data sets may require additional RAM)

  -8 bit or 24 bit RGB monitor

   

• Unix -

               -SGI workstation

               -24 bit RGB monitor recommended

               -64 Mb RAM minimum, (larger data sets may require additional RAM)

          Price

• Windows : Express $3,000, RealTime: $8,500

• Mac : $3,000

• Unix : $5,000

  Company

   

• VayTek:    http://www.vaytek.com/VoxBlast.html

   

2. Applications

• VoxBlast is a fully featured 3-D digital imaging application for science, engineering and medicine, providing 3-D Measurement, 3-D Reconstruction, 3-D Volume Visualization, and 3-D Rendering.  It accepts stacks of registered 2-D images and creates 3-D projections from any viewpoint using an alpha blending or surface rendering algorithm.

   

3. Examples/Samples

• Heart Rendering:   http://www.vaytek.com/heart1.htm
• Ultrasound Rendering:  http://www.vaytek.com/ultrasnd1.htm
• Other Examples: http://www.vaytek.com/vox.htm
• 3D Reconstruction:  http://www.vaytek.com/AN13.html
• From Hippocampal Organotypic Culture:  http://www.vaytek.com/kraig.html

4. Features/Functions/File Formats

         Features/Functions

        Slice Tracing dialog & functions

• Multiple traces per slice
• Individual trace editing
• Min/Max threshold auto-tracing

        Object Count dialog & functions

• Min/Max threshold setting
• Min/Max cluster size setting
• Surface area
• Max diameter
• Roundness

        2D Orientation

• Flip Vertical
• Flip Horizontal

        Reverse Stack Order

        Measurement Grid dialog and display

• Spreadsheet format
• Ascending/Descending ordered columns

        Auto Render toggle option
        Rendering Mode - 24 BIT Minimum Intensity Projection YIQ
        Data Set Definition add new auto detect feature

        Preferences window

• No Init on load toggle
• Slice Orientation
• 2D Orientation
• Auto Render toggle
• 2D Image Auto Sample toggle

        New Features in VoxBlast include:

• 2-D Image Window with greater options, including the ability to display up to four 2-D images. Each image in the display window can have an independent orientation. It is now possible to display three orthogonal views plus an arbitrary orientation; or the user can view four arbitrary planes at once.
• The "Slice Tracing" function has been redesigned and expanded.
• Object Counting: A new Object Counting function allows users to generate a file with the x, y, z coordinates for each object. The coordinates can be imported into a spreadsheet.

• Multiple platform support

• Software based renderer - the faster the cpu the faster the renderer

• Motif/X-windows GUI

• Command line interface - macro definition possible

• Unix Version allows external modules to be added via TCP/IP links

• True 3D analysis tools built into software

• Several segmentation algorithms built into software

• Displays polygonal data in addition to Voxel data

• Powerful built-in Palette editor for color and opacity definition

• Contains Brainvox tracing for correlating 3D views with cross sectional views

        File Formats

• Input : 8, 16 or 24 bit integer, binary, raster scan, any size header-raw, TIFF, Picture, DICOM.

• Output : 8 bit integer, binary, no header, TIFF, BMP, Alpha blending or surface rendering algorithm, Written in X11 and Motif

5. Web Resources

• Quick Reference Guide - http://www.vaytek.com/VBquikref.html
• Vaytek:  http://www.vaytek.com/VoxBlast.html
• Linear-System:  http://www.linear-systems.com/products/software/specifications/voxblast.htm
• Scanalytics:  http://www.scanalytics.com/product/bio/voxblast.html