Modifying Traced Anatomic Contours

• Correcting partially inaccurate contours
• Correcting individual contour points
• Correcting completely inaccurate contours
• Reversing the tracing direction of a contour

There are several circumstances that might warrant modifying a contours:

1. Partially inaccurate contours
   1. Make sure that the magnification is set to the right value--the modified trace will be redigitized at the accuracy associated with the current magnification
   2. Go to the slice where the partially inaccurate trace is located
   3. From the popup menu at the top of the control panel, choose the name of the structure you want to correct
   4. Press the "Edit Trace" button on the control panel. Its text should turn red, indicating that you are in 'trace editing' mode. The contour corresponding to this structure should change color to MultiTracer's editing color. By default, this color is green, but you can set it to any color you like using the "Set Editing Color" selection in the "Contours" menu of the main window.
   5. If the contour is not the correct structure, you can make a different choice from the popup menu at the top of the control panel or, from the "Contours" menu, you can select "Select Next Contour" or "Select Previous Contour" to advance through the list of contours. Keyboard shortcuts shown on the "Contours" menu can also be used.
   6. At the beginning of the section of the trace that you want to correct, start a trace using the approach appropriate for the selected drawing mode.
   7. Retrace the incorrect section
   8. End the trace using the approach appropriate for the seelcted drawing mode. The modified trace should now appear in the contour's designated color. MultiTracer will automatically revert to tracing mode.
2. Incorrect individual contour points (available only in polygon drawing mode)
   1. Set the drawing mode to polygon mode (if not already done) by selecting "Polygon" from the "Select Drawing Mode" submenu of the main "Contours" menu.
   2. Set the drawing style to vertices style (if not already done) by selecting "Vertices" from the "Style" submenu of the main "Contours" menu.
   3. Make sure that the magnification is set to the right value--the modified trace will be redigitized at the accuracy associated with the current magnification
   4. Go to the slice where the trace you want to alter is located
   5. From the popup menu at the top of the control panel, choose the name of the structure you want to correct
   6. Press the "Edit Trace" button on the control panel. Its text should turn red, indicating that you are in 'trace editing' mode. The contour corresponding to this structure should change color to MultiTracer's editing color. By default, this color is green, but you can set it to any color you like using the "Set Editing Color" selection in the "Contours" menu of the main window.
   7. If the contour is not the correct structure, you can make a different choice from the popup menu at the top of the control panel or, from the "Contours" menu, you can select "Select Next Contour" or "Select Previous Contour" to advance through the list of contours. Keyboard shortcuts shown on the "Contours" menu can also be used.
   8. Press the "Shift" key to bring a pop-up menu that will let you select the type of single point modification you want to make (this menu will only pop up if the main MultiTracer window has focus, the "Edit Trace" button is selected, and the selected drawing mode is "Polygon"). The available options are:
      • Add new point
        • New points will be added at each mouse click
      • Delete point
        • Clicked points will be deleted
      • Move point
        • Points can be dragged to a new location
3. Completely inaccurate contours
   1. Make sure that the magnification is set to the right value--the modified trace will be redigitized at the accuracy associated with the current magnification
   2. Go to the slice where the completely inaccurate trace is located
   3. From the popup menu at the top of the control panel, choose the name of the structure you want to correct
   4. Press the "Edit Trace" button on the control panel. Its text should turn red, indicating that you are in 'trace editing' mode. The contour corresponding to this structure should change color to MultiTracer's editing color. By default, this color is green, but you can set it to any color you like using the "Set Editing Color" selection in the "Contours" menu of the main window.
   5. If the contour is not the correct structure, you can make a different choice from the popup menu at the top of the control panel or, from the "Contours" menu, you can select "Select Next Contour" or "Select Previous Contour" to advance through the list of contours. Keyboard shortcuts shown on the "Contours" menu can also be used.
   6. From the "Edit" menu, select "Cut Trace" or use the keyboard shortcut shown on the menu. MultiTracer will automatically revert to tracing mode.
   7. Redraw the contour.
4. Reversed contour tracing direction
   1. Go to the slice where the completely inaccurate trace is located
   2. From the popup menu at the top of the control panel, choose the name of the structure you want to correct
   3. Press the "Edit Trace" button on the control panel. Its text should turn red, indicating that you are in 'trace editing' mode. The contour corresponding to this structure should change color to MultiTracer's editing color. By default, this color is green, but you can set it to any color you like using the "Set Editing Color" selection in the "Contours" menu of the main window.
   4. If the contour is not the correct structure, you can make a different choice from the popup menu at the top of the control panel or, from the "Contours" menu, you can select "Select Next Contour" or "Select Previous Contour" to advance through the list of contours. Keyboard shortcuts shown on the "Contours" menu can also be used.
   5. From the "Contours" menu, select "Show Origin of Selected Trace".
   6. From the "Contours" menu, select "Style" and then "Open" from the submenu. The selected green trace will now have a small red circle at its origin, (which can only be discerned when traces are open)
   7. From the "Edit" menu, select "Reverse Trace Order". The red circle will now appear at the opposite end of the trace showing that the direction of the trace has been reversed

Modified: August 23, 2004