Abstract
Depth-enhancement techniques can improve perception of isolated vascular renderings, but their benefit in anatomically contextualized mixed reality (MR) remains unclear. We present an MR visualization that embeds patient-specific cerebral vasculature within surrounding brain anatomy and evaluate three established depth-enhancement tech
niques: Phong shading, aerial perspective (Fog), and pseudo-chromadepth. In a within-subject study with 12 participants, users completed vessel depth-selection and surface-placement tasks while objective performance and subjective workload were recorded. No technique significantly improved selection accuracy, placement accuracy, or task completion time, although pseudo-chromadepth was preferred by participants. These results suggest that anatomical context combined with stereoscopic viewing
and natural motion parallax may reduce the contribution of additional depth cues. While our exploratory design cannot isolate these factors, the findings highlight the importance of evaluating surgical visualization techniques in perceptually realistic MR environments rather than isolated vascular renderings
Links to Paper and Supplementary Materials
Main Paper (Open Access Version): https://papers.miccai.org/miccai-2026-sat/paper/COLAS_029.pdf
SharedIt Link: Not yet available
SpringerLink (DOI): Not yet available
Supplementary Material: Not Submitted
Link to Open Review
Open Review Page: https://openreview.net/forum?id=nmQCUhK4UV
BibTex
@InProceedings{JonZoé_An_MICCAISAT2026,
author = { Jones, Zoé AND Drouin, Simon AND Kersten-Oertel, Marta},
title = { { An Anatomically Contextualized Mixed Reality Testbed for Evaluating Neurovascular Depth Visualization } },
booktitle = {Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention -- MICCAI 2026 Workshops and Challenges},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Springer Nature Switzerland},
volume = {LNCS pending},
month = {pending},
page = {pending}
}