Moffitt Cancer Research Uses IDL To Display 3D Data
Anonym
Customer Challenge
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute needed a software solution that would help them make better diagnoses of lung and breast cancer.
Solution Achieved
Moffit's Robert Velthuizen works with mammograms and chest x-rays to improve diagnosis of breast and lung cancer. In one project, beta- emitting radio-nuclides are attached to antibodies and delivered to tumor site where the energy released from the decaying beta-emitters destroy the tumor. The traveling beta-particles are then recorded as an image. Because the results are fuzzy, Velthuizen uses digital convolution for image sharpening. In another cancer project, the lab's scientists distinguish between normal brain tissue, scar tissue, and tumors.
Velthuizen created an IDL® application that gives users a tool for creating clear, revealing images. In the brain cancer project, the lab records a MRI of the brain, segment it in IDL to locate and measure tumors, then display it as a 3D volume. IDL makes the program more flexible and easier to expand. IDL widgets were used to develop an interface with buttons and sliders to run on top of the program so researchers can conveniently manipulate analysis function.
Key Benefits
- IDL's flexible data I/O allows Velthuizen to read in files from different scanners, with different file formats and to output to PostScript for presentation.
- Using IDL, Velthuizen can write code in less than 20% of the lines required in C or FORTRAN.
- Because one of Velthuizen's main goals is to write accessible algorithms, he views IDL as "an in-depth flexible tool – a pocket calculator for image processing."