Two approaches for applet-based visible human slice extraction

Real-time interactive slicing is a tool of choice for exploring 3D anatomic data sets such as the Visible Human. We offer real-time slicing on the Web by partitioning the application between a Java applet (the client) and the Web server. Two approaches for partitioning the work between the client and the server are presented and compared. In the first approach, we transfer complete compressed slices from the server to the client. In the second approach, we successively build a local cache on the client by transferring small subvolumes of increasing resolution from the server to the client. The client is responsible for extracting the displayed slices from the local data cache. A high-bandwidth network connection is recommended. The web server offering real-time interactive slicing together with anatomic structure labeling opens new perspectives for teaching anatomy to paramedical and medical professions