Visualizing nerve cells with VolVis.

VolVis is a high-performance volume visualization software system. It integrates numerous visualization methods within a comprehensive system, providing a flexible tool for the scientist, engineer, and physician, as well as the visualization developer and researcher. Visualizing nerve cells has been a primary application of VolVis, and has served as the driving force behind the development of VolVis. This paper describes VolVis, its unique features, and its various components, as well as several case studies of utilizing VolVis in visualizing nerve cell datasets acquired using confocal microscopy. These studies include visualizing surface structures using both iso-surface and volume rendering, with a specific focus on visualizing calcium.