Method of reducing noise in volume imaging
First Claim
1. A method of visualizing a three-dimensional volume image data set (1) which contains a plurality of intensity values on a discrete spatial grid, in which method a two-dimensional image (15) is formed by projecting the volume image data on a projection plane in that for each pixel (16) there is determined an intensity value which corresponds to the maximum value or minimum value of the mean intensity along a projection path (17) which is associated with the relevant pixel and extends through the imaged volume, the mean intensity being calculated by averaging over a plurality of intensity values of the volume image data set (1) which neighbor one another along the projection path, characterized in that the averaging is carried out over at least partly overlapping intervals (18 to 22) along the projection path (17).
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Abstract
In a method of visualizing a three-dimensional volume image data set (1), a two-dimensional image (15) is formed by projecting volume image data on a projection plane in that for each pixel (16) there is determined an intensity value which corresponds to the maximum value or minimum value of the mean intensity along a projection path (17) through the imaged volume and associated with the relevant pixel. In order to determine the mean intensity, averaging is performed over a plurality of intensity values which neighbor one another along the projection path (17). In order to achieve effective noise suppression as well as adequate along image contrast , averaging is performed over at least partly overlapping interval (18 to 22) along the projection path (17). The method offer the advantage that the user can choose the width of the averaging interval as an additional free parameter, so that image contrast and background noise can be influenced independently.
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Citations
6 Claims
- 1. A method of visualizing a three-dimensional volume image data set (1) which contains a plurality of intensity values on a discrete spatial grid, in which method a two-dimensional image (15) is formed by projecting the volume image data on a projection plane in that for each pixel (16) there is determined an intensity value which corresponds to the maximum value or minimum value of the mean intensity along a projection path (17) which is associated with the relevant pixel and extends through the imaged volume, the mean intensity being calculated by averaging over a plurality of intensity values of the volume image data set (1) which neighbor one another along the projection path, characterized in that the averaging is carried out over at least partly overlapping intervals (18 to 22) along the projection path (17).
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