A BRDF for the Brain (2010-12) | Professor Nigel W. John

Professor Nigel W. John FEG FLSW

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A BRDF for the Brain (2010-12)



Realistic rendering of anatomy becomes more important as we strive for high fidelity surgical simulation. A Bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) is often used in computer graphics when rendering opaque surfaces - a BRDF defines how light is reflected at the surface. In this project we were able to derive a BRDF for the surface of a living human brain and use this for realistic surface renderings (ap Cenydd, John, Bloj, Walter, & Phillips, 2012).

The project was carried out in collaboration with the School of Optometry and Vision Science at Bradford University. Nick Phillips, neurosurgeon at the Leeds General Infirmary, and Mike Mahon, anatomist at Keele University, gave us access to the operating theatre and dissection laboratory to collect data.

Further Reading

  1. ap Cenydd, L., John, N., Bloj, M., Walter, A., & Phillips, N. (2012). Visualizing the surface of a living human brain. Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE, 32(2), 55–65.