Interval volume decomposer: A topological approach to volume traversal

The Interval Volume Decomposer (IVD) is an interface for decomposing an entire volume into interval volumes each of which characterizes a distinctive volume feature. The advantage of the IVD is that it allows us to look inside the volume by peeling interval volumes from outside to inside not only interactively but also automatically. This is achieved due to the rigorous analysis of nested structures of the decomposed interval volumes by constructing a level-set graph that delineates isosurface transitions according to the scalar field. A robust algorithm for computing such level-set graphs is introduced in order to extract significant structures in the volume by putting together local interval volumes into a finite number of global groups. Several decomposition examples of medical and simulated datasets are demonstrated so that the present interface effectively traverses the underlying structures of the volume.