Color Volume Rendering for Overlapping Medical Regions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing medical image processing devices struggle to accurately display multiple regions overlapping in the depth direction on a virtual ray, leading to poor visibility and image quality, particularly when using volume rendering methods like MIP and ray casting.

Innovation Solution

A medical image processing device that generates a color volume rendering image by designating and separating regions, allowing for reversible transformation to display overlapping regions distinctly, using a processor to combine and separate voxel values into RGB channels for improved visibility.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If translucent rendering is used to display overlapping regions, then multiple regions can be simultaneously displayed, but image quality becomes unsatisfactory

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveability to display multiple overlapping regionsVSAvoidimage quality

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the color information into separate channels (red, green, blue) corresponding to different regions. Each channel displays a specific region's information independently, allowing multiple overlapping regions to be displayed simultaneously without mutual interference. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by maintaining clear regional boundaries while enabling multi-region visualization.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by assigning different color channels to different regions. Each region is displayed with its specific color information in a dedicated channel, allowing each region to maintain its unique visual characteristics. This ensures that overlapping regions are displayed with their respective local properties preserved, improving both adaptability and image quality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Productivity

If traditional volume rendering methods are used, then volume data can be visualized, but overlapping regions in the depth direction cannot be simultaneously displayed accurately

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevolume data visualization capabilityVSAvoidaccuracy of displaying overlapping regions

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the visualization process into separate color channels, where each channel corresponds to a specific region. This allows accurate display of overlapping regions by assigning them to different channels, thereby maintaining measurement precision while preserving volume data visualization capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent utilizes color changes by assigning different colors to different regions and using color channel separation to display overlapping regions. The red, green, and blue channels represent different regions, allowing accurate visualization of depth-direction overlaps through color differentiation while maintaining overall volume rendering functionality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #32Color changes

3Measurement precision

If color information is added to distinguish regions, then visibility of multiple regions is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevisibility of multiple regionsVSAvoidcomplexity of region separation and color mapping

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the color rendering process into independent red, green, and blue channels. Each channel processes a specific region's information separately, simplifying the overall complexity by breaking down the color mapping task into manageable segments. This segmentation achieves high visibility while controlling device complexity through modular processing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies universality by using a multi-functional color channel system where each channel can display different region information. The same infrastructure (processor, memory, display) handles multiple regions through color channel multiplexing, avoiding the need for separate display systems for each region and thus reducing overall device complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS10249074B2Medical image processing device, medical image processing method and computer readable medium for displaying color volume rendered images

Publication Date: 2019.04.02 ZIOSOFT

AI summary

A medical image processing device includes a port, a user interface, a processor and a display. The port acquires volume data of a biological body. The user interface receives designation of two or three regions in the volume data. The processor generates a color volume rendering image based on the volume data and the two or three regions. The display displays the color volume rendering image. The two or three regions overlap each other on a virtual ray on at least one point in the color volume rendering image. The color volume rendering image has a feature that, the color volume rendering image is separable to two or three volume rendering images corresponding to the two or three regions, by a reversible transformation.