IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT

• US 20090292206A1
• Filed: 05/12/2009
• Published: 11/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.), Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Sato, Takeshi
• Granted Patent: US 9,113,811 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/443
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/06 Measuring blood flow measuring volume flow in general G01F, e.g. G01F1/66, G01F1/72; measuring speed of fluids in general G01P5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/13 Tomography A61B8/10, A61B8/12 take precedence; tomography for radiation diagnosis A61B6/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/483 involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/08 Volume rendering
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/24 Fluid dynamics
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/41 Medical

Abstract

A tissue-image creating unit creates a tissue image including depth values by volume rendering from three-dimensional tissue data stored in a three-dimensional data storage unit. A blood-flow data converting unit scatters a blood flow in three-dimensional blood-flow data stored in the three-dimensional data storage unit into particles, and converts the three-dimensional blood-flow data into three-dimensional particle data. A blood-flow image creating unit creates a blood-flow image including depth values from the three-dimensional particle data. A composite-image creating unit then creates a composite image by coordinating the order of rendering particles and tissue based on the depth values of respective pixels included in the tissue image and the depth values of respective particles included in the blood-flow image. A display control unit then controls display of the composite image so as to be displayed in order onto a monitor included in an output unit.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

an image creating unit that acquires three-dimensional histology information about tissue inside a subject and three-dimensional fluid information about fluid moving inside the subject both of which are created based on a reflection wave of an ultrasonic wave transmitted to the inside of the subject, creates three-dimensional particle information converted from the three-dimensional fluid information by arranging a plurality of particles in three dimensions in a scattered manner in an area in which the fluid is present in the three-dimensional fluid information, and creates a composite image based on created three-dimensional particle information and the three-dimensional histology information; and

a display control unit that controls display of the composite image created by the image creating unit so as to be displayed onto a predetermined display unit.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image creating unit determines at least one of a color of each of the particles, an arrangement density of the particles, and a size of each of the particles, based on at least one of a velocity of the fluid, a dispersion of velocities of the fluid, and power of the fluid.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image creating unit creates the composite image by coordinating an order of rendering the particles and the tissue, based on positional information in three dimensions about the particles in the three-dimensional particle information, and positional information in three dimensions about the tissue in the three-dimensional histology information.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image creating unit creates composite information that the three-dimensional fluid information is combined with the three-dimensional histology information by giving identification information for identifying the three-dimensional fluid information and the three-dimensional histology information, and creates the composite image based on created composite information.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the image creating unit sequentially creates three-dimensional particle-position change information that positions in the three-dimensional particle information at which the particles are to be arranged are changed with predetermined time intervals, and sequentially creates the composite image based on sequentially-created three-dimensional particle-position change information and the three-dimensional histology information, and

the display control unit controls display of the composite image sequentially created by the image creating unit so as to be sequentially displayed onto the predetermined display unit.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image creating unit sequentially creates the three-dimensional particle-position change information by changing positions at which the particles are to be arranged based on at least one of a velocity of the fluid and a dispersion of velocities of the fluid.

7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the image creating unit creates a cross-sectional tissue image corresponding to a specified cross section in the three-dimensional histology information, and creates a composite image combined of created cross-sectional tissue image and an image created by using the three-dimensional particle information of both of which positions inside the subject are aligned with each other, and

the display control unit controls display of the composite image created by the image creating unit so as to be displayed onto the predetermined display unit.

8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image creating unit creates the three-dimensional particle information by removing an area in which the fluid is present in the three-dimensional fluid information with designated intervals.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image creating unit changes the designated intervals along time sequence.

10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the image creating unit takes the three-dimensional fluid information with certain intervals as a composition subject to be combined with the three-dimensional histology information.

11. A computer program product having a computer readable medium including programmed instructions for processing an image, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform:

acquiring three-dimensional histology information about tissue inside a subject and three-dimensional fluid information about fluid moving inside the subject both of which are created based on a reflection wave of an ultrasonic wave transmitted to the inside of the subject, creating three-dimensional particle information converted from the three-dimensional fluid information by arranging a plurality of particles in three dimensions in a scattered manner in an area in which the fluid is present in the three-dimensional fluid information, and creating a composite image based on created three-dimensional particle information and the three-dimensional histology information; and

controlling display of the composite image so as to be displayed onto a predetermined display unit.