Cinematic Volume Rendering for Real-Time 3D Image Filtering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing noise reduction and image enhancement methods for 3D images fail to effectively suppress noise and enhance structures of interest, often blurring images or being computationally expensive.
Innovation Solution
The method employs cinematic volume rendering based on path tracing and inverse linear volumetric ray tracing to generate 2D projection images, suppressing noise and enhancing structures, with pre-computation allowing real-time ray tracing for efficient image rendering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional smoothing filters are used for noise reduction, then noise is reduced, but image detail is blurred
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different filtering operations to different regions of the volume data based on local characteristics. Structure-enhancing filtering is applied to regions containing anatomical structures, while noise reduction is applied to homogeneous regions, thereby preserving image detail while reducing noise.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the filtering parameters and methods based on the local properties of the volume data. By adjusting filtering strength, kernel size, and type according to regional characteristics, it achieves both noise reduction and structure preservation simultaneously.
2Reliability
If cinematic volume rendering with path tracing is used, then noise suppression and structure enhancement are achieved, but computational cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs computationally intensive cinematic volume rendering and path tracing operations in advance to pre-compute filtered volume data. This preliminary processing enables real-time or near-real-time display without requiring high computational resources during actual visualization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the volume rendering process into distinct stages: pre-computation of filtered volume data using cinematic rendering, and real-time projection of pre-processed data. This segmentation allows expensive operations to be performed once offline while fast operations are performed online.
3Productivity
If real-time rendering is implemented, then processing speed is improved, but image quality and noise reduction capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs all computationally intensive image quality enhancement and noise reduction operations in advance during pre-computation. The real-time rendering stage only requires projecting pre-processed volume data, which is computationally lightweight and enables fast processing without compromising image quality.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for volume rendering based 3D image filtering and real-time cinematic volume rendering is disclosed. A set of 2D projection images of the 3D volume is generated using cinematic volume rendering. A reconstructed 3D volume is generated from the set of 2D projection images using an inverse linear volumetric ray tracing operator. The reconstructed 3D volume inherits noise suppression and structure enhancement from the projection images generated using cinematic rendering, and is thus non-linearly filtered. Real-time volume rendering can be performed on the reconstructed 3D volume using volumetric ray tracing, and each projected image of the reconstructed 3D volume is an approximation of a cinematic rendered image of the original volume.