Characterizing the Quality of Insight by Interactions: A Case Study

A Workflow to Visually Assess Interobserver Variability in Medical Image Segmentation

We introduce a workflow for the visual assessment of interobserver variability in medical image segmentation. Image segmentation is a crucial step in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of many diseases. Despite the advancements in autosegmentation, clinical practice widely relies on manual delineations performed by radiologists. Our work focuses on designing a solution for understanding the radiologists' thought processes during segmentation and for unveiling reasons that lead to interobserver variability. To this end, we propose a visual analysis tool connecting multiple radiologists' delineation processes with their outcomes, and we demonstrate its potential in a case study.

Interactive, Visual Simulation of a Spatio-Temporal Model of Gas Exchange in the Human Alveolus

In interdisciplinary fields such as systems biology, good communication between experimentalists and theorists is crucial for the success of a project. Theoretical modeling in physiology usually describes complex systems with many interdependencies. On one hand, these models have to be grounded on experimental data. On the other hand, experimenters must be able to understand the interdependent complexities of the theoretical model in order to interpret the model's results in the physiological context. We promote interactive, visual simulations as an engaging way to present theoretical models in physiology and to make complex processes tangible. Based on a requirements analysis, we developed a new model for gas exchange in the human alveolus in combination with an interactive simulation software named Alvin. Alvin exceeds the current standard with its spatio-temporal resolution and a combination of visual and quantitative feedback. In Alvin, the course of the simulation can be traced in a three-dimensional rendering of an alveolus and dynamic plots. The user can interact by configuring essential model parameters. Alvin allows to run and compare multiple simulation instances simultaneously. We exemplified the use of Alvin for research by identifying unknown dependencies in published experimental data. Employing a detailed questionnaire, we showed the benefits of Alvin for education. We postulate that interactive, visual simulation of theoretical models, as we have implemented with Alvin on respiratory processes in the alveolus, can be of great help for communication between specialists and thereby advancing research.