Eurographics Celebrates Computer Graphics in Medicine

Every two years, Eurographics organizes a competition called the Dirk Bartz Prize for Visual Computing in Medicine. The biannual award serves to highlight the achievements of those who employ computer graphics for medical applications, and to encourage further research and development in the field.

The marriage of computer graphics and medicine has led to numerous, highly impactful advances in training, treatment and medical understanding. Those who work in the field of visual computing for medical applications may not be as well known to the general public as entertainment industry graphics professionals, but many have been instrumental in the creation of medical advances that have touched the lives of millions.

Past recipients of the Dirk Bartz Prize for Visual Computing in Medicine include:

• High-Quality 3D Visualization of In-Situ Ultrasonography (Ivan Viola, Åsmund Birkeland, Veronika Solteszova, Linn Helljesen, Helwig Hauser, Spiros Kotopoulis, Kim Nylund, Dag M. Ulvang, Ola K. Øye, Trygve Hausken, and Odd H. Gilja)
• Effective Visual Exploration of Hemodynamics in Cerebral Aneurysms (Mathias Neugebauer, Rocco Gasteiger, Gábor Janiga, Oliver Beuing, and Bernhard Preim)
• OCTAVIS: A Virtual Reality System for Clinical Studies and Rehabilitation (Eduard Zell, Eugen Dyck, Agnes Kohsik, Philip Grewe, David Flentge, York Winter, Martina Piefke, and Mario Botsch)
• VERT: A Virtual Environment for Radiotherapy Training and Education (James W. Ward, Roger Phillips, Annette Boejen, Cai Grau, Deepak Jois, Andy W. Beavis)
• The Tumor Therapy Manager and its Clinical Impact (Ivo Rössling, Jana Dornheim, Lars Dornheim, Andreas Boehm, Bernhard Preim)
• AVM-Explorer: Multi-Volume Visualization of Vascular Structures for Planning of Cerebral AVM Surgery (Florian Weiler, Christian Rieder, Carlos A. David, Christoph Wald, Horst K. Hahn)

Researchers and developers able to demonstrate a specific benefit that has resulted from the use of their computer graphics technology in a medical application are invited to submit their work for consideration for the 2015 award. The top three winning entries of the Dirk Bartz Prize for Visual Computing in Medicine 2015 will each receive a prize, and their submissions will be published in the "Short Papers and Medical Prize Awards" digital media proceedings. Examples of entries include the use of new data visualization techniques, interaction methods or virtual or augmented environments.

Submissions for the 2015 Dirk Bartz Prize close on January 9, 2015. For more information on the Dirk Bartz Prize, or to submit your work for consideration, visit the Eurographics 2015 website.