voxel

noun

vox·​el ˈväk-səl 

-ˌsel

: any of the discrete elements comprising a three-dimensional entity (such as an image produced by magnetic resonance imaging)

MRI produces the best resolution of any existing scanning technology, imaging down to a 2-millimetre "voxel" (the 3D equivalent of a pixel).

—Clint Witchalls

To process the MRI data, a computer overlaid on Pickens' brain a virtual three-dimensional grid of 50,000 cubes called voxels (a word hinting at volume and pixels).

—Christopher Helman

Examples of voxel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2004, the neuroscientist Uri Hasson (opens a new tab) and his colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel started carving a path through the thicket of voxels. —Quanta Magazine, 21 Feb. 2025

The varying activity in these voxels creates patterns akin to fingerprints that denote different states of mind or types of mental activity. —Quanta Magazine, 21 Feb. 2025

The map is represented on the computer by voxels, which are like three-dimensional pixels in a lattice grid. —Keith Cooper, Space.com, 28 Jan. 2025

The system also tracks the user’s hand motion and touch, allowing users to manipulate the voxels in space. —Evan Ackerman, IEEE Spectrum, 6 Nov. 2015

Word History

Etymology

vo(lume) entry 1 + (pi)xel

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for voxel

• coxal
• glyoxal
• hydroxyl
• methoxyl
• pyridoxal