  We present the integration of the OpenIGTLink network protocol for
image-guided therapy (IGT) with the medical prototyping platform MeVisLab.
OpenIGTLink is a new, open, simple and extensible network communication
protocol for IGT. The protocol provides a standardized mechanism to connect
hardware and software by the transfer of coordinate transforms, images, and
status messages. MeVisLab is a framework for the development of image
processing algorithms and visualization and interaction methods, with a focus
on medical imaging. The integration of OpenIGTLink into MeVisLab has been
realized by developing a software module using the C++ programming language. As
a result, researchers using MeVisLab can interface their software to hardware
devices that already support the OpenIGTLink protocol, such as the NDI Aurora
magnetic tracking system. In addition, the OpenIGTLink module can also be used
to communicate directly with Slicer, a free, open source software package for
visualization and image analysis. The integration has been tested with tracker
clients available online and a real tracking system.
