BIOMEDICAL IMAGES USING ANALYZE
Richard A. Robb, Ph.D.
Director, Biomedical Imaging Resource
Mayo Foundation, Rochester, MN

A comprehensive software package called ANALYZE has 
been developed by the Biomedical Imaging Resource at 
Mayo Clinic which permits detailed investigation and 
evaluation of 3-D biomedical images.  This software can 
be used with many 3-D imaging modalities such as x-
ray computed tomography, radionuclide emission 
tomography, ultrasound tomography, magnetic 
resonance imaging, and light, electron and confocal 
microscopy.  The package is unique in its synergistic 
integration of fully interactive modules for direct 
display, manipulation and measurement of 
multidimensional, multimodality image data.  Several 
original algorithms for multiplanar reformatting, 
oblique and curved sectioning, multi-panel cine loops, 
shaded surface rendering and 3-D volume rendering 
provide interactive displays of high-quality images.  
The volume rendering algorithms are optimized to be 
fast and flexible, without compromising image quality, 
permitting interactive definition, manipulation and 
measurement of individual or multiple rendered 
objects.  The inclusion of a variety of interactive editing 
and quantitative mensuration tools significantly extends 
the usefulness of the software.  Advanced algorithms 
are included for automated 3-D segmentation using 
math morphology, 3-D image registration and fusion 
using surface matching, and feature classification using 
multispectral analysis.  Arbitrary regions and/or 
volumes-of-interest can be manually specified and/or 
automatically defined for numerical determination and 
statistical analyses of distances, areas, volumes, 
densities, textures, and shapes.  The system provides a 
powerful capabilities for generating highly tailored 
sequences of operations and routines for prototyping 
custom extensions and applications.  Capabilities for 
interactive 3-D surgery simulation and radiotherapy 
planning are examples of such extensions and 
applications.  ANALYZE runs on standard UNIX 
computers without special-purpose hardware.  
ANALYZE is being used in a wide variety of biological 
investigations and medical applications in many 
institutions around the world.  These studies are 
providing exciting new insights into the fundamental 
processes of life and major advances in health care 
delivery through improved diagnoses and treatment of 
disease.