Patent · US Active

Apparatus and method for rendering volume data

US7755625B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
8References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 21, 2006
Grant dateJul 13, 2010
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 13, 2029

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2210/41
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for rendering volume data in an ultrasound diagnostic system. A method for rendering volume data including an object space and an empty space acquired from ultrasound data, comprises the following steps: a) casting a virtual ray from at least one pixel comprising a viewing plane into the volume data; b) sampling voxels of the volume data along the virtual ray in a first sampling interval; c) checking whether a currently sampled voxel corresponds to the object space or the empty space by using opacity based on a voxel value of a sampled voxel; d) at step c), if it is determined that the currently sampled voxel corresponds to the object space, then returning to the previously sampled voxel and sampling voxels in a second sampling interval shorter than the first sampling interval; e) checking whether accumulated opacity calculated based on the sampled voxels along the virtual ray is greater than a critical value; f) at step e), if it is determined that the accumulated opacity is greater than the critical value, then completing the sampling process for the current virtual ray and calculating a rendering value by using the voxel…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.