Neuroview

Inspiration

Medical students spend years trying to understand brain anatomy from flat 2D
MRI slices. Existing 3D visualization tools are expensive, complex, or lack
collaboration features. We asked: What if learning neuroanatomy could be as
simple and collaborative as editing a Google Doc?

What It Does

NeuroView is a free, open-source web-based 3D brain MRI viewer with real-time collaboration.

3D Visualization

• Load NIfTI (.nii.gz) brain scans or use built-in demo MRIs
  
• Rotate, zoom, and explore brain structure from any angle
  
• Toggle between wireframe and solid surface rendering
  
• Adjust depth threshold and opacity for detailed examination
  

Multi-Plane Slicing

• Synchronized axial, sagittal, and coronal slice views
  
• Scrub through slices while seeing your position on the 3D model
  

Annotation System

• Drop color-coded markers anywhere on the brain surface
  
• Resize markers and attach comments/notes
  
• Hover over markers to see annotations instantly
  

Real-Time Collaboration (Like Google Docs)

• Share a link and work together with up to 4 people simultaneously
  
• Everyone sees the same view camera movements, slice positions, and
  annotations sync in real-time
  
• Perfect for study groups, remote lectures, or research discussions
  

How We Built It

• Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Three.js for 3D rendering
  
• Backend: FastAPI + WebSockets for real-time synchronization
  
• Data Processing: NiBabel, NumPy, SciPy, scikit-image (marching cubes
  algorithm)
  
• Deployment: Render with GitHub CI/CD
  

Challenges We Faced

• Synchronizing camera, slices, and annotations across multiple users without lag or feedback loops
  
• Optimizing mesh rendering for large volumetric datasets (256 × 178 × 256
  voxels)
  
• Making 3D annotation placement intuitive with raycasting
  

What We Learned

• WebSocket architecture for collaborative applications
  
• Three.js raycasting and 3D interaction patterns
  
• Isosurface extraction with marching cubes
  
• The power of making complex tools accessible and free
  

What's Next

• Brain region labeling with anatomical overlays
  
• DICOM format support
  
• Mobile-friendly viewer
  
• Export annotations as reports
  

NeuroView is 100% free and open source. No accounts, no paywalls, just open
the link and start exploring.

Built With

• fastapi
• github
• html
• nibabel
• pillow
• python
• render
• three.js