THE PROCESS

2D X-RAY CT SCANNED IMAGES

As I mentionned briefly in my introduction, the data for my visualization came from two dimensional X-Ray CT (Computerized Tomography) scanned images. The images were initially placed on transparencies of twelve to a page. As a result, the visualization of the egg is not exactly true to life. Such an image can, however, be generated if instead the actual data from the CT scanner was used.

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS

The next step involved transferring the images fromt the transparencies onto Kodak paper, which would be more easily read by the scanner. After transferring them, still twelve to a page, I cut them apart as precisely as possible. Despite my best efforts to be accurate, there is an automatic degree of error added when anything is done by hand.

ALIGNED IMAGES

I then scanned the images and within DX (Data Explorer) created a program that allowed me to move each image individually. The scanning had caused some images to be rotated a bit and they were not yet correctly aligned. Each image was then ligned up according to lettering at its corners (Image information from the CT scan).

3D DATA SET

Once aligned, I wrote the images to a 3D data set, placing them along the x-axis (perpendicularly) with the correct spacing in between (like a deck of cards on a skewer...).

IMAGING

In order to create a three dimensional surface, I had to first resolve a number of problems that arose as a result of the differences in brightness between the images. I did a great deal of imaging to correct the inconsistencies in the data. The end result was a smoother surface in the visualization of the entire egg and in that of the shell and bone alone.

VISUALIZATION

I created a number of different visualizations of the data, starting with the entire egg, then the shell and bone, and finally only the egg's contents.
DISCLAIMER: I am using the word 'bone' loosely here, because even in the final visualization, I cannot be certain that there is any bone matter within the egg. In a very tedious and messy I have also included in the section on visualization, a trip through the egg (a pan through the egg) in the x, y, and z directions based upon the original data. These visualizations make clearer some of the problems I encountered during the image processing stage of my project.