Three dimensional connectivity system employing an equivalence schema for determining connected substructures within a body
US4791567A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 15, 1986 |
| Grant date | Dec 13, 1988 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 15, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S378/901
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus and method for determining connected substructures within a body is disclosed. The system and method are particularly advantageous for use in medical diagnostic imaging applications. In particular, three dimensional regions exhibiting the same tissue type are similarly labeled. The system and method of the present invention is operable in any situation in which three dimensional signal patterns representing the value of one or more physical properties associated with the substructures within a body at regularly spaced grid locations within the body are presented. A subset of the original data may then be provided to a display processor, particularly one employing gradient normal shading for display of three dimensional images. Even more particularly, the present invention is related to a method and system for determining equivalence classes of objects, the objects typically comprising one or two dimensional connected regions found in a planar slice of data from magnetic resonance imaging or x-ray tomography systems.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.