Automatic analysis in virtual endoscopy
First Claim
1. A method for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising the steps of:
- a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body;
b. isolating a selected region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and
c. rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display,wherein the step of isolating the selected region of interest comprises a morphological dilation step.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer system and a computer-implemented method are provided for interactively displaying a three-dimensional rendering of a structure having a lumen and for indicating regions of abnormal wall structure. A three-dimensional volume of data is formed from a series of two-dimensional images representing at least one physical property associated with the three-dimensional structure. An isosurface of a selected region of interest is created by a computer from the volume of data based on a selected value or values of a physical property representing the selected region of interest. A wireframe model of the isosurface is generated by the computer wherein the wireframe model includes a plurality of vertices. The vertices are then grouped into populations of contiguous vertices having a characteristic indicating abnormal wall structure by the computer. The wireframe model is then rendered by the computer in an interactive three-dimensional display to indicate the populations of abnormal wall structure.
183 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A method for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising the steps of:
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a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolating a selected region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the step of isolating the selected region of interest comprises a morphological dilation step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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11. A method for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising the steps of:
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a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolating a selected region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display wherein the body comprises a tracheobronchial airway, a portion of the tracheobronchial airway is rendered transparent, and a portion of the tracheobronchial airway is rendered semi-transparent.
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28. A method for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising the steps of:
a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolating a selected region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; c. rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display; d. forming an isosurface wireframe model of the isolated selected region of interest wherein the step of rendering an image includes the step of rendering a three-dimensional display of the wireframe model comprising a volume rendering step, and wherein the volume rendering step comprises an opacity adjusting step for adjusting opacity values. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A method for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising the steps of:
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a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolating a selected region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display comprising a data reduction step for reducing the size of the volume of data before rendering the isolated region of interest. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. A system for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising:
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a. volume formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolation means for isolating a region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range, the isolation means comprising a morphological dilation means for adjusting the isolated region of interest; and c. rendering means for rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A system for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising:
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a. volume formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolation means for isolating a region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; c. rendering means for rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display; and d. reduction means for reducing the size of the volume of data.
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46. A system for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising:
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a. volume formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolation means for isolating a region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering means for rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the rendering means includes transparency means for rendering a portion of the region of interest semi-transparent.
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47. A system for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising:
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a. volume formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolation means for isolating a region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering means for rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the rendering means includes splitting means for splitting the three-dimensional display open in selected split open sections and displaying means for displaying the split open sections so that inner surfaces of the split three-dimensional display are visible, and wherein the splitting means includes center line splitting means for splitting open the three-dimensional display of the isolated region of interest along a line which passes along a center of the three-dimensional display of the segmented region of interest, the center line splitting means including; a. selection means for selecting a seed point which lies within the region of interest; b. plane determining means for determining a plane of minimum area through the region of interest that passes through the seed point; c. center point determining means for determining the center point of the region of interest that is dissected by the plane of minimum area; and d. point selecting means for selecting a new point which is spaced from the previous center point in a perpendicular direction relative to the plane of minimum area.
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48. A system for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising:
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a. volume formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolation means for isolating a region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering means for rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the rendering means includes splitting means for splitting the three-dimensional display open in selected split open sections and displaying means for displaying the split open sections so that inner surfaces of the split three-dimensional display are visible, and wherein the splitting means includes center line splitting means for splitting open the three-dimensional display of the isolated region of interest along a line which passes along a center of the three-dimensional display of the segmented region of interest, the center line splitting means including; a. erosion means for iteratively eroding the region of interest until all of the region of interest disappears, thereby determining the last portions of the region of interest to disappear; and b. connection means for connecting the last portions of the region of interest to disappear by erosion.
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49. A system for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising:
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a. volume formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolation means for isolating a region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering means for rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the rendering means comprises simulation means for simulating movement along a center line through the isolated region of interest of the three-dimensional display and wherein the simulation means includes; a. selection means for selecting a seed point which lies within the region of interest; b. plane determining means for determining a plane of minimum area through the region of interest that passes through the seed point; c. center point determining means for determining the center point of the region of interest that is dissected by the plane of minimum area; and d. point selecting means for selecting a new point which is spaced from the previous center point in a perpendicular direction relative to the plane of minimum area.
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50. A system for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising:
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a. volume formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolation means for isolating a region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering means for rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the rendering means comprises simulation means for simulating movement along a center line through the isolated region of interest of the three-dimensional display and wherein the simulation means includes; a. erosion means for iteratively eroding the region of interest until all of the region of interest disappears, thereby determining the last portions of the region of interest to disappear; and b. connection means for connecting the last portions of the region of interest to disappear by erosion.
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51. A method for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising the steps of:
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a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolating a selected region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the body comprises a colon and the rendering step comprises simulating movement along a line which passes along the center of the lumen of the colon, and wherein the step of simulating movement along the center line through the isolated region of interest of the three-dimensional display includes the steps of; a. selecting a seed point which lies within the region of interest; b. determining a plane of minimum area through the region of interest that passes through the seed point; c. determining the center point of the region of interest that is dissected by the plane of minimum area; and d. selecting a point which is spaced from the center point in a perpendicular direction relative to the plane of minimum area.
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52. A method for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising the steps of:
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a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolating a selected region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the body comprises a colon and the rendering step comprises simulating movement along a line which passes along the center of the lumen of the colon, and wherein the step of simulating movement along the center line includes the steps of; a. iteratively eroding the region of interest until all of the region of interest disappears, thereby determining the last portions of the region of interest to disappear; and b. connecting the last portions to disappear by erosion.
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53. A method for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising the steps of:
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a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolating a selected region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the body comprises a colon, and the rendering step comprises simulating movement along a line which passes along the center of the lumen of the colon and splitting the colon open in lengthwise sections and displaying the split open colon so that inner surfaces of the split open colon are visible, and wherein the rendering step comprises generating the split open sections along a line which passes along the center of the colon comprising the steps of; a. selecting a seed point which lies within the region of interest; b. determining a plane of minimum area through the region of interest that passes through the seed point; c. determining the center point of the region of interest that is dissected by the plane of minimum area; and d. selecting a point which is spaced from the center point in a perpendicular direction relative to the plane of minimum area.
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54. A method for interactively displaying three-dimensional structures comprising the steps of:
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a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with a three-dimensional body; b. isolating a selected region of interest by comparing the value of each of a selected number of voxels in the volume of data to a value range of selected values of the physical property that represent the selected region of interest to remove those voxels having a value outside the selected value range; and c. rendering the isolated region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, wherein the body comprises a colon, and the rendering step comprises simulating movement along a line which passes along the center of the lumen of the colon and splitting the colon open in lengthwise sections and displaying the split open colon so that inner surfaces of the split open colon are visible, and wherein the rendering step comprises generating the split open sections along a line which passes along the center of the colon comprising the steps of; a. iteratively eroding the region of interest until all of the region of interest disappears, thereby determining the last portion of the region of interest to disappear; and b. connecting the last portion of the region of interest to disappear by erosion.
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Specification