SYSTEM, APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR IMAGE PROCESSING

• US 20140028669A1
• Filed: 09/27/2013
• Published: 01/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2011
• 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: TSUKAGOSHI, Shinsuke, WAKAI, Satoshi, KOKOJIMA, Yoshiyuki, MUKUMOTO, Go
• Granted Patent: US 9,445,082 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/022 Stereoscopic imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/462 characterised by constructional features of the display
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/466 adapted to display 3D data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/503 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5211 involving processing of medical diagnostic data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0883 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/466 adapted to display 3D data 3D imaging and stereoscopic displays in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S15/8993 and G01S7/52068, respectively; 3D image rendering G06T15/00; manipulating 3D models for computer graphics G06T19/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/483 involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/08 Biomedical applications
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/003 to produce spatial visual effects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/275 from 3D object models, e.g. computer-generated stereoscopic image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/279 the virtual viewpoint locations being selected by the viewers or determined by tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/282 for generating image signals corresponding to three or more geometrical viewpoints, e.g. multi-view systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/332 Displays for viewing with the aid of special glasses or head-mounted displays [HMD]

Abstract

According to one embodiment, an image processing system includes a stereoscopic display device and an image processing apparatus. The stereoscopic display device is configured to enable a stereoscopic image constituted by using a predetermined parallax number of parallax images to be stereoscopically viewed. The image processing apparatus comprises a rendering processor configured to apply rendering processing to volume data serving as three-dimensional medical image data, a rendering processing controller configured to control the rendering processor so as to generate from the volume data a parallax image group composed of the predetermined parallax number or more of parallax images, and a storage controller configured to store in a memory the parallax image group generated by the rendering processor. The stereoscopic display device is configured to display the stereoscopic image constituted by selecting the predetermined parallax number of parallax images out of the parallax image group stored in the memory.

Claims

1. An image processing system comprising:

a stereoscopic display device configured to enable a stereoscopic image constituted by using a predetermined parallax number of parallax images to be stereoscopically viewed; and

an image processing apparatus that comprises a rendering processor configured to apply rendering processing to volume data serving as three-dimensional medical image data, a rendering processing controller configured to control the rendering processor so as to generate from the volume data a parallax image group composed of the predetermined parallax number or more of parallax images, and a storage controller configured to store in a memory the parallax image group generated by the rendering processor;

wherein

the stereoscopic display device is configured to display the stereoscopic image constituted by selecting the predetermined parallax number of parallax images out of the parallax image group stored in the memory.

2. The image processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a display controller configured to control so as to obtain from the memory the predetermined parallax number of parallax images out of the parallax image group generated from volume data specified by an operator, and to display the stereoscopic image constituted by using the obtained predetermined parallax number of parallax images on the stereoscopic display device.

3. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to control the rendering processor to generate the parallax image group, by setting, based on a straight line or a curve forming a figure having a predetermined shape, viewpoints for performing the rendering processing as many as or more than the parallax number.

4. The image processing system according to claim 3, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to set the figure having the predetermined shape so that the viewpoints are located outside a rendering area serving as an area to be rendered in the volume data, and is configured to control the rendering processor to generate the parallax image group based on the straight line or the curve forming the figure thus set.

5. The image processing system according to claim 4, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to set the viewpoints for performing the rendering processing as many as or more than the parallax number along the straight line or the curve forming the figure having the predetermined shape.

6. The image processing system according to claim 4, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to set the viewpoints for performing the rendering processing as many as or more than the parallax number along a tangent line at a point set on the straight line or the curve forming the figure having the predetermined shape.

7. The image processing system according to claim 4, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to set the viewpoints for performing the rendering processing along each of tangent line directions at a plurality of points set on the straight line or the curve forming the figure having the predetermined shape.

8. The image processing system according to claim 3, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to set the figure having the predetermined shape so that the viewpoints are located in a rendering area serving as an area to be rendered in the volume data, and is configured to control the rendering processor to generate the parallax image group based on the straight line or the curve forming the figure thus set.

9. The image processing system according to claim 3, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to set more than one of the figures each having the predetermined shape.

10. The image processing system according to claim 2, wherein the display controller is configured to perform control so as to sequentially display more than one of the stereoscopic images on the stereoscopic display device by sequentially selecting from the memory the predetermined parallax number of parallax images.

11. The image processing system according to claim 2, wherein the display controller is configured to change a parallax angle between a predetermined parallax number of selected parallax images.

12. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to control the rendering processor so that a resolution of each image constituting the parallax image group is higher than a resolution of the predetermined stereoscopic display device.

13. The image processing system according to claim 2, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to treat the parallax image group as standardized data standardized in a format based on standard specifications for sending and receiving medical images while the storage controller is configured to further perform control so as to attach supplementary information used in the standard specifications to the standardized data and store the resulting data in the memory, and

the display controller is configured to obtain from the memory the standardized data of the volume data specified by the operator, and to determine, based on the supplementary information attached to the obtained standardized data, whether the standardized data is the parallax image group.

14. The image processing system according to claim 13, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured to treat the parallax image group as video data in a video format based on the standard specifications while the storage controller is configured to further perform control so as to attach the supplementary information used in the standard specifications to the video data and store the resulting data in the memory, and

the display controller is configured to obtain from the memory the video data of the volume data specified by the operator, and to determine, based on the supplementary information attached to the obtained video data, whether the video data is the parallax image group.

15. The image processing system according to claim 14, wherein the rendering processing controller is configured, if a plurality of pieces of volume data are generated along time series, to control the rendering processor so as to generate a plurality of parallax image groups along time series from the pieces of volume data, and to treat the parallax image groups generated by the rendering processor as the video data in the video format used in the standard specifications while the storage controller is configured to further perform control so as to attach the supplementary information used in the standard specifications to the video data and store the resulting data in the memory, and

the display controller is configured to obtain from the memory the video data of the pieces of volume data specified by the operator, and to determine, based on the supplementary information attached to the obtained video data, whether the video data is the parallax image groups along time series for animation display.

16. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a stereoscopic display device configured to enable a stereoscopic image constituted by using a predetermined parallax number of parallax images to be stereoscopically viewed;

a rendering processor configured to apply rendering processing to volume data serving as three-dimensional medical image data;

a rendering processing controller configured to control the rendering processor so as to generate from the volume data a parallax image group composed of the predetermined parallax number or more of parallax images; and

a storage controller configured to store in a memory the parallax image group generated by the rendering processor;

wherein

the stereoscopic display device is configured to display the stereoscopic image constituted by selecting the predetermined parallax number of parallax images out of the parallax image group stored in the memory.

17. An image processing method comprising:

a step, by an image processing apparatus, of controlling a rendering processor configured to apply rendering processing to volume data serving as three-dimensional medical image data, so as to generate from the volume data a parallax image group composed of a predetermined parallax number or more of parallax images, and of storing in a memory the parallax image group generated by the rendering processor; and

a step, by a stereoscopic display device configured to enable a stereoscopic image constituted by using the predetermined parallax number of parallax images to be stereoscopically viewed, of displaying the stereoscopic image constituted by selecting the predetermined n parallax number of parallax images out of the parallax image group stored in the memory.