When viewing an organ or structure in situ in traditional anatomy teaching, one cannot observe it from every side without isolating it. With volume rendering however, every organ can be isolated, with their in situ orientation preserved. An example of this is shown in Plate 1, where the deep muscles of the lower extremity are isolated for visualization while maintaining their in situ orientations.

Upon isolation of an organ in traditional dissection, one tends to place it relative to the absolute coordinates of space rather than relative to the body. For example, traditional anatomic atlases provide an anterior view of the pelvis that is tilted as much as 25 degrees about a horizontal axis. A volume rendering showing the true in situ anterior view of the pelvis is shown in Plate 3.

The traditional visualization modality for vascular trees--including the hepatic portal system, the pulmonary vessels, and the bronchial tree--is the use of casts. With this method, surrounding tissues are dissolved, leaving the vascular tree casts. Volume renderings feature these vascular trees in situ in relation to intact surrounding organs. These surrounding organs can be rendered opaque or transparent as shown in Plate 4.

In the case of the viscera, the shape and orientation of the organs is of special interest. Because many organs such as the esophagus, stomach, and intestines are distorted during dissections, and traditional representations of these organs are based on intuition, inferences and illustrations. A volume rendering showing the in-situ shape of the upper gastrointestinal tract is shown in Plate 5.

The 3D Digital Human Anatomy images were rendered using workstations. For detailed information about the techniques used to create these images, read the white paper:
"Volume Rendering of Visible Human Data for an Anatomical Virtual Environment"

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