Method and apparatus for volume rendering
US6304266A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 29, 2000 |
| Grant date | Oct 16, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 29, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T15/40
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A volume rendering process is disclosed. Data including a plurality of voxels are recorded. Each voxel includes an opacity-adjusted value representative of a value of a parameter at a location within the volume adjusted by applying an opacity curve to the value. A computer is used to process such data. The process includes partitioning the plurality of voxels among a plurality of slices. Each slice corresponds to a respective region of the volume. For each slice, the process apportions the plurality of voxels associated with that slice among a plurality of cells associated with that slice. Each cell corresponds to a respective sub-region of the region associated with that slice. For each cell, the process determines that the cell is nontransparent if more than a predetermined number of the voxels associated with that cell have an opacity-adjusted value greater than a predetermined value. Otherwise the cell is determined to be transparent. The process stores a texture value for each voxel for only nontransparent cells and renders the stored texture values.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.