Press Releases
Mitsubishi Electronics America's Real
Time Visualization introduces world's first real-time 3D volume-rendering
solution for PCs
San Mateo, CA--May
24, 1999:
Mitsubishi Electronics America's
Real Time Visualization division (RT Viz) today announced the launch
of the VolumePro® 500 PCI board, making real-time volume rendering
widely available on desktop computers for the first time. Real-time
3D volume rendering, one of the new graphics frontiers of visualization
and imaging, enables 3D visualization and manipulation not only of
surface objects but also objects with internal structure.
"We understand that there are applications
capable of gathering a lot of volume data but there is no realistic
and affordable way to view it," said Jamie Jacobs, general manager
for Real Time Visualization. "With Mitsubishi's R&D capabilities and
intellectual property, we can offer a product that enables no trade-offs
when it comes to speed vs. true 3D image quality. And, we can do it
at a PC-class price point."
Volume rendering has become a key technology
for understanding and evaluating vast amounts of scanned 3D data.
3D medical acquisition techniques, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI), or Computed Tomography (CT), are being used daily in thousands
of medical institutions in such applications as confocal microscopy,
which is used by scientists to acquire the 3D internal structure of
cells.
Volume rendering is also crucial in other
markets including geophysics and high energy CT scans. Volume rendered
3D geophysical data gives insights into oil and gas exploration, helping
to pinpoint drilling sites. High-energy CT scans of airplane wings
and turbine blades reveal material defects at the micro-millimeter
scale. Modern explosive detection systems for luggage checked at airports
are also based on CT scanning.
Real Time Visualization's VolumePro®
500 PCI accelerator board features an ASIC rendering engine that is
able to transform one billion bytes of volume data per second into
500 million Phong-lit and colored samples per second, enough volume
to render a 256 cubed data-set at 30 frames per second.
The VolumePro® board is configured with 128M of usable volume
memory, which is enough to store 512 x 512 x 256 volume slices. VolumePro®
comes equipped with a rich set of hardware-assisted features like
cropping, slicing, line or plane cursor support, super-sampling, multiple
light sources and more, all calculated on-the-fly. The board is easily
programmed using the Volume Library Interface API, which are a set
of C++ classes that exist within an open GL context.
The VolumePro® 500 board is available
immediately and ranges in price from $2,995 to $5,495, depending on
configuration. Software development kits (SDKs) are available for
application developers and system integrators.
About TeraRecon, Inc.
TeraRecon, Inc. is a technology-driven provider of advanced 3D imaging
systems for medical and other visualization applications, with solutions
based on its unique and patented image processing technologies. The
company has developed a leading portfolio of products that advance
the performance, quality, functionality, and integration of image
processing and 3D visualization systems. Founded in 1997, TeraRecon
has developed a unique family of powerful processors that are used
in its real-time diagnostic workstations, enterprise-wide 3D imaging
servers using thin-client PCs, color Doppler ultrasound systems, mini
gamma cameras, high performance reconstruction engines, and real-time
volume rendering hardware engines. TeraRecon is a fast growing, privately
held company with headquarters in San Mateo, CA, and branch offices
in Concord, MA; Tokyo, Japan; Osaka, Japan; and Trondheim, Norway.
Contact:
TeraRecon, Inc.
Robert Taylor, Ph.D.
COO & Executive VP
650.372.1100
taylor@terarecon.com
www.terarecon.com
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