System and method for the display of surface structures contained within the interior region of a solid body
First Claim
1. A system for displaying three dimensional surface structures comprising:
- means for storing three dimensional signal patterns representing the value of at least one physical property associated with a three dimensional body at regularly spaced grid locations within said body;
means for retrieving the eight three dimensional signal pattern values associated with each set of cubically adjacent grid locations within said body;
means for comparing each set of said eight values with a predetermined threshold value to generate an eight bit binary vector each of whose elements is zero or one, based on the result of said comparison;
means for generating a set of coordinate values for each distinct binary vector, said coordinate values representing the vertices of at least one predetermined polygonal surface which approximates the intersection of surfaces determined by said threshold value with the volume defined by said eight grid points, said coordinate values also being dependent on the location of said eight grid locations within said body;
display processor means for receiving said coordinate values and for converting said coordinate values to a display format; and
means for displaying surfaces determined by said threshold, said display means being driven by said display processor.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for displaying three dimensional surface images includes the utilization of a case table for rapid retrieval of surface approximation information. Eight cubically adjacent data points associated with a given voxel element are compared with a predetermined threshold value or range to generate an eight bit vector. This eight bit vector is employed to rapidly produce vector lists of approximating surfaces. An interpolation operation is performed so as to more closely approximate the desired surface and to provide more accurate representations of vectors normal to the desired surface. The accurate representation of these normal directions provides means for accurately representing shading information on a display screen. The method and apparatus of the present invention are particularly useful for the display of medical images both, from x-ray generated data and from data generated from various other sources including magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography. The present invention provides a means for rapid generation of three dimensional images so as to enable interactive use by medical practitioners.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system for displaying three dimensional surface structures comprising:
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means for storing three dimensional signal patterns representing the value of at least one physical property associated with a three dimensional body at regularly spaced grid locations within said body; means for retrieving the eight three dimensional signal pattern values associated with each set of cubically adjacent grid locations within said body; means for comparing each set of said eight values with a predetermined threshold value to generate an eight bit binary vector each of whose elements is zero or one, based on the result of said comparison; means for generating a set of coordinate values for each distinct binary vector, said coordinate values representing the vertices of at least one predetermined polygonal surface which approximates the intersection of surfaces determined by said threshold value with the volume defined by said eight grid points, said coordinate values also being dependent on the location of said eight grid locations within said body; display processor means for receiving said coordinate values and for converting said coordinate values to a display format; and means for displaying surfaces determined by said threshold, said display means being driven by said display processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A preprocessor for a display system for three dimensional images, said preprocessor comprising:
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means for storing three dimensional signal patterns representing the value of at least one physical property associated with a three dimensional body at regularly spaced grid locations within said body; means for retrieving the eight three dimensional signal pattern values associated with each set of cubically adjacent grid locations within said body; means for comparing each set of said eight values with a predetermined threshold value to generate an eight bit binary vector each of whose elements is zero or one, based on the result of said comparison; and means for generating a set of coordinate values for each distinct binary vector, said coordinate values representing the vertices of at least one predetermined polygonal surface which approximates the intersection of surfaces determined by said threshold value with the volume defined by said eight grid points, said coordinate values also being dependent on the location of said eight grid locations within said body.
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14. A method for producing, on a display device, three dimensional surface representations, said method comprising the steps of:
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generating three dimensional signal patterns, said signal patterns representing the values of at least one physical property associated with a three dimensional body at regularly spaced grid locations within said body; generating an eight bit vector for each set of eight cubically adjacent locations throughout said body, said locations corresponding to said regularly spaced grid locations, said vector being determined by comparison of said physical property representational values with a predetermined threshold value; generating a set of coordinate values in response to each distinct eight bit vector and said eight grid locations, said coordinate values representing vertices of at least one predetermined polygonal surface which approximates the intersection of surfaces determined by said threshold value with the volume defined by said eight grid locations, said coordinate values also being dependent upon the location of said grid locations within said body; and supplying said coordinate values to a display processor and display device for generation of an image representative of at least one surface within said body, said surface being determined by said threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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15. A system for displaying three dimensional surface structures comprising:
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means for storing three dimensional signal patterns representing the value of at least one physical property associated with a three dimensional body at regularly spaced grid locations within said body; means for retrieving the three dimensional signal patterns values associated with said grid within said body; means for comparing the set of said signal patterns with a predetermined threshhold value; means for tesselating the output of said comparison, said tesselation means generating polygonal surfaces which approximate the intersection of surfaces determined by said threshhold value with voxel elements defined by said grid, said polygonal surfaces having surface normals substantially different from the three major axes of the grid; display processor means for receiving tesselated output and for converting said output to a display format; and means for displaying surfaces determined by said threshhold, said display means being driven by said display processor.
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Specification