Method, apparatus and computer program product for the interactive rendering of multivalued volume data with layered complementary values
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- calculating additional data values from multivalued primary data;
deriving at least one volume-based visual representation from the multivalued primary data and the calculated additional data values, the derived at least one volume-based visual representation comprising a layer representing a computed volume-based visual representation that elucidates the underlying data; and
mapping the derived at least one volume-based visual representation through transfer functions to hardware primitives for volumetrically rendering the at least one volume-based visual representation;
where the multivalued primary data comprises diffusion tensor data generated by a magnetic resonance imaging system from tissue, and where deriving comprises identifying directed diffusion paths and rendering the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures that are made visually distinct from another and from other tissue by the use of a complementary volume disposed around the thread-like structures.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Described is a system, method and computer program product for rendering volumetric multivalued primary data. The system includes a rendering engine having an input coupled to a source of multivalued primary data and an output coupled to a display. The rendering engine includes a data processor for calculating additional data values from the primary data, deriving at least one visual representation from the primary data and the additional data values, and mapping the derived visual representation through transfer functions to hardware primitives for volumetrically rendering the derived visual representation to provide a visualization. The system further includes a user interface for interacting with the visualization. The source of primary data can be a magnetic resonance imaging system, and the primary data may be a multivalued combination obtained from T1 weighted data, T2 weighted data, diffusion data, velocity data, magnetization transfer data, perfusion data, data derived from other imaging modalities (e.g., PET), and simulation data. The primary data can be diffusion tensor data generated by the MRI system from tissue, and the data processor operates to identify directed diffusion paths and to render the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures. Indications of at least flowing blood velocity and vorticity can also be rendered from MRI data or from simulations.
66 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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calculating additional data values from multivalued primary data; deriving at least one volume-based visual representation from the multivalued primary data and the calculated additional data values, the derived at least one volume-based visual representation comprising a layer representing a computed volume-based visual representation that elucidates the underlying data; and mapping the derived at least one volume-based visual representation through transfer functions to hardware primitives for volumetrically rendering the at least one volume-based visual representation; where the multivalued primary data comprises diffusion tensor data generated by a magnetic resonance imaging system from tissue, and where deriving comprises identifying directed diffusion paths and rendering the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures that are made visually distinct from another and from other tissue by the use of a complementary volume disposed around the thread-like structures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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4. A method, comprising:
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calculating additional data values from primary data; deriving at least one visual representation from the primary data and the additional data values; and mapping the derived visual representations through transfer functions to hardware primitives for volumetrically rendering the derived at least one visual representation, where the primary data comprises diffusion tensor data generated by a magnetic resonance imaging system from tissue, where calculating and deriving comprise identifying directed diffusion paths, and where mapping comprises visualizing the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 10)
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11. A method, comprising:
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calculating additional data values from the primary data; deriving at least one visual representation from the primary data and the additional data values; mapping the derived visual representations through transfer functions to hardware primitives for volumetrically rendering the derived at least one visual representation; and interacting with the visualization representation, where the primary data comprises diffusion tensor data generated by a magnetic resonance imaging system from tissue, where calculating and deriving comprise identifying directed diffusion paths, where mapping comprises visualizing the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures, and where interacting comprises varying a density volume of visualized thread-like structures by varying at least one of a thread-length criterion and a diffusion rate criterion.
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- 17. A system, comprising a rendering engine having an input coupled to a source of multivalued primary data and an output coupled to a display means, said rendering engine comprising a data processor configured to calculate additional data values from the primary data, said data processor further configured to derive at least one volume-based visual representation from the primary data and the additional data values, the derived at least one volume-based visual representation comprising a layer representing a computed volume-based visual representation that elucidates the underlying data, said data processor further configured to map the derived volume-based visual representation through transfer functions to hardware primitives for volumetrically rendering the derived at least one volume-based visual representation to provide a visualization, further comprising a user interface for interacting with the visualization, where the multivalued primary data comprises diffusion tensor data generated by a magnetic resonance imagine system from tissue, and where said data processor is further configured to identify directed diffusion paths and to render the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures that are made visually distinct from another and from other tissue by the use of a complementary volume disposed around the thread-like structures.
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19. A system to render volumetric multivalued primary data, comprising a rendering engine having an input coupled to a source of multivalued primary data and an output coupled to a display means, said rendering engine comprising a data processor configured to calculate additional data values from the primary data, to derive at least one visual representation from the primary data and the additional data values and to map the derived visual representation through transfer functions to hardware primitives for use in volumetrically rendering the derived visual representation to provide a visualization,
where the primary data comprises diffusion tensor data generated by a magnetic resonance imaging system from tissue, where said data processor is further configured to identify directed diffusion paths and render the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures.
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33. A computer program product embodied on or in a computer-readable medium, the computer program product comprising computer readable program code comprising:
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computer readable program code for calculating additional data values from multivalued primary data; computer readable program code for deriving at least one volume-based visual representation from the multivalued primary data and the additional data values; computer readable program code for mapping the derived at least one volume-based visual representation through transfer functions to hardware primitives for volumetrically rendering the derived at least one volume-based visual representation, the derived at least one volume-based visual representation comprising a layer representing a computed volume-based visual representation that elucidates the underlying data; and computer readable program code providing a user interface function for enabling a user to interact with the volumetrically rendered derived at least one volume-based visual representation; where the multivalued primary data comprises diffusion tensor data generated by a magnetic resonance imaging system from tissue, and where deriving comprises identifying directed diffusion paths and rendering the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures that are made visually distinct from another and from other tissue by the use of a complementary volume disposed around the thread-like structures. - View Dependent Claims (34, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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35. A computer program embodied on or in a computer-readable medium, the computer program product comprising computer readable program code comprising:
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computer readable program code for calculating additional data values from the primary data; computer readable program code for deriving at least one visual representation from the primary data and the additional data values; computer readable program code for mapping the derived visual representation through transfer functions to hardware primitives for volumetrically rendering the derived visual representation; and computer readable program code providing a user interface function for enabling a user to interact with the volumetrically rendered derived visual representation, where the primary data comprises diffusion tensor data generated by a magnetic resonance imaging system from tissue, where said computer program code for calculating and deriving comprises code for identifying directed diffusion paths, and where said computer program code for mapping comprises code for rendering the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 41, 42)
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- 48. A system, comprising an input configured to receive multivalued primary data and an output to provide data for a visual display, further comprising a processor disposed between the input and the output and configured to calculate additional data values from the multivalued primary data, the processor further configured to generate a volume-based representation of the primary data and the additional data values, where the volume-based visual representation comprises a layer representing a computed volume-based visual representation that elucidates the underlying data, the processor further configured to send the volume-based representation to the output to be volumetrically rendered for presentation by the visual display, the processor configured to operate with a user interface for enabling user interaction with the presentation, where the primary data comprises diffusion tensor data generated by a magnetic resonance imaging system from tissue, and where the processor is further configured to identify directed diffusion paths and to render the directed diffusion paths as thread-like structures that are made visually distinct from another and from other tissue by the use of a complementary volume disposed around the thread-like structures.
Specification