The virtual endoscopy is a newly developed reconstruction technique of sectional images for extended diagnosis and preoperative evaluation. In comparison to the conventional 3D-reconstructions this new technique presents a perspective impression of a real time endoscopic view. There are two principle methods with which this can be achieved: the surface reconstruction (surface rendering technique) or the volume reconstruction (volume rendering technique). In both these techniques it is possible to change the angle of vision, light source, depth-coding, tinge-effect and surface qualities of the reconstruction images. The advantage of surface reconstruction is the significant reduction in the required amount of data. The volume reconstruction offers a high spatial resolution which makes this technique more favoured for virtuelle endoscopy.
