TubeTK/Python Development

Motivation

• Allow users to easily create and/or customize TubeTK functionality
  • Ex: Create your own heuristic for automatic seed point generation for use by TubeTK's centerline extraction segmentation algorithm
• Allow fast programming/prototyping using TubeTK

Options

TubeTK

• Wrap all of TubeTK into python
• Source the user's python scripts from TubeTK's C++ code

TubeTK in Slicer

• 3D Slicer's python page
• Command-line (XML) python modules:
  • Specify user interface and a single "execute" function (called when the Apply button is clicked)
  • Can access Slicer's global objects, MRML tree, and other command-line modules (even if they are not python modules)
  • Unfortunately, not interactive or dynamic
• Scripted python modules:
  • Can be interactive and dynamic (ex. PythonGADScriptedModuleGUI, as explained on the last slides of the Slicer Python breakout session in Salt Lake City, Winter Project Week 2009 by Luca Antiga)
  • Heavily dependent on Slicer
• Ideally, would want most functionality within python scripts that can be run with or without Slicer
  • Create Slicer-independent python script, and call it from a small python script? Ex. PythonScript.py