Image processing systems and methods
First Claim
1. A video image processing system comprising:
- an input store for a plurality of video image signals representing substantially parallel two-dimensional slices of a three-dimensional object spaced in a substantially orthogonal direction to the plane of each slice;
manipulating means for changing the position or orientation of each slice by processing said video image signals to thereby generate processed video signals representing manipulated slices; and
combining means for combining selected processed video signals representing portions of said manipulated slices to produce output image signals representing the three-dimensional object manipulated in accordance with changes applied to the position or orientation of said slices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A processing system and method which produces and manipulates images of a three dimensional object. Patches of video signals (called cameos) representing different parallel planes of an object are stored in a frame store from which each cameo can be accessed individually and manipulated as desired. When the effect of a change in orientation or position of the object is required in the output image each cameo is accessed and manipulated in the same manner and combined using key and priority signals. The manipulation is achieved by writing incoming video signals into addresses in a store determined by the manipulation required and provided as address maps. The medical embodiment replaces the cameos with frames of signals representing tomographic sections of a patient and uses a LUT to provide a window for certain ranges of signals.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A video image processing system comprising:
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an input store for a plurality of video image signals representing substantially parallel two-dimensional slices of a three-dimensional object spaced in a substantially orthogonal direction to the plane of each slice; manipulating means for changing the position or orientation of each slice by processing said video image signals to thereby generate processed video signals representing manipulated slices; and combining means for combining selected processed video signals representing portions of said manipulated slices to produce output image signals representing the three-dimensional object manipulated in accordance with changes applied to the position or orientation of said slices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of processing video images comprising:
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storing a plurality of input video image signals representing substantially parallel two-dimensional slices of a three-dimensional object spaced in a substantially orthogonal direction to the plane of each slice; manipulating said input video image signals so as to change the position or orientation of the image of each slice, and combining selected portions of each manipulated video image signal to produce an output image signal representing said three-dimensional object manipulated in accordance with the manipulations applied to said slices. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A method of processing medical images comprising the steps of:
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producing video signals representing images of successive tomographs of a part of a patient wherein each tomograph represents a two-dimensional slice and said slices are spaced in a substantially orthogonal direction to the plane of each slice; separately manipulating the video signals of each image to represent the transformation which occurs in the image of the respective tomographs as a result of a common change of the position or orientation of the tomographs with respect to an observer; and selectively combining video signals representing the different transformed images to produce an output image representing said part of the patient as seen from a desired viewpoint. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 21)
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17. A medical image processing system comprising:
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means for receiving a plurality of frames of video signals representing substantially parallel two-dimensional slices of a part of a patient spaced in a substantially orthogonal direction to the plane of each slice; frame store means for storing said signals; manipulating means for manipulating said signals to produce the effect of a change in orientation in said part of the patient; means for processing said manipulated signals to produce control signals, said control signals being such as to define parts of interest in said slices; and combining means for combining the manipulated signals to produce output signals representing the image of said part of the patient at a given orientation with those areas of interest being clearly defined. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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22. A medical image processing system comprising:
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means for receiving a plurality of frames of video signals representing different parallel slices of a part of a patient; frame store means for storing said signals; means for processing said signals to produce control signals defining parts of interest in said slices; means for manipulating said control signals to produce the effect of a change in orientation in said part of patient; a source of video signals with predetermined values; a second frame store means; combining means for combining incoming signals with predetermined values and signals stored at the corresponding address in said second frame store means in dependence on said control signal; means for writing said combined signal in said address in said second framestore means; and means for displaying signals from said second frame store means.
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Specification