Method and apparatus for constructing three-dimensional surface shading image display
First Claim
1. An apparatus for constructing three-dimensional surface shading image display from three-dimensional sequential tomographic images, comprising:
- individual distance image constructing means for constructing an individual distance image for each of the tomographic images with respect to a predetermined reference plane;
synthesized distance image constructing means for constructing a synthesized distance image in which the individual distance images for all of the tomographic images constructed by the individual distance image constructing means are synthesized together, by sequentially carrying out an image extrema calculation between each m-th individual distance image for each m-th tomographic image and a previous synthesized distance image in which the previous individual distance images for up to (m-1)-th tomographic image are synthesized together, where m is an integer and the image extrema calculation calculates an extremum value for each picture element in the individual distance images;
surface shading distance image constructing means for constructing a distance image for surface shading in a predetermined shape by applying an affine transformation to the synthesized distance image constructed by the synthesized distance image constructing means; and
shading process means for obtaining a surface shading image by applying a shading process to the distance image for surface shading constructed by the surface shading distance image constructing means.
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Abstract
A method and an apparatus for constructing three-dimensional surface shading image display from three-dimensional sequential tomographic images, capable of obtaining the distance image at a high speed by using a hardware configuration with a high general applicability. In the apparatus, an individual distance image for each of the tomographic images with respect to a predetermined reference plane is constructed; a synthesized distance image in which the individual distance images for all of the tomographic images are synthesized together is constructed, by sequentially carrying out an image extrema calculation between each individual distance image for each tomographic image and a previous synthesized distance image; a distance image for surface shading is constructed by applying an affine transformation to the synthesized distance image; and a surface shading image is obtained by applying a shading process to the distance image for surface shading. The image extrema calculation can be either an image minima calculation or an image maxima calculation.
29 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An apparatus for constructing three-dimensional surface shading image display from three-dimensional sequential tomographic images, comprising:
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individual distance image constructing means for constructing an individual distance image for each of the tomographic images with respect to a predetermined reference plane; synthesized distance image constructing means for constructing a synthesized distance image in which the individual distance images for all of the tomographic images constructed by the individual distance image constructing means are synthesized together, by sequentially carrying out an image extrema calculation between each m-th individual distance image for each m-th tomographic image and a previous synthesized distance image in which the previous individual distance images for up to (m-1)-th tomographic image are synthesized together, where m is an integer and the image extrema calculation calculates an extremum value for each picture element in the individual distance images; surface shading distance image constructing means for constructing a distance image for surface shading in a predetermined shape by applying an affine transformation to the synthesized distance image constructed by the synthesized distance image constructing means; and shading process means for obtaining a surface shading image by applying a shading process to the distance image for surface shading constructed by the surface shading distance image constructing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of constructing three-dimensional surface shading image display from three-dimensional sequential tomographic images, comprising the steps of:
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(a) constructing an individual distance image for each of the tomographic images with respect to a predetermined reference plane; (b) constructing a synthesized distance image in which the individual distance images for all of the tomographic images constructed at the step (a) are synthesized together, by sequentially carrying out an image extrema calculation between each m-th individual distance image for each m-th tomographic image and a previous synthesized distance image in which the previous individual distance images for up to (m-1)-th tomographic image are synthesized together, where m is an integer and the image extrema calculation calculates an extremum value for each picture element in the individual distance images; (c) constructing a distance image for surface shading in a predetermined shape by applying an affine transformation to the synthesized distance image constructed at the step (c); and (d) obtaining a surface shading image by applying a shading process to the distance image for surface shading constructed at the step (c). - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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Specification