Hierarchical Context Navigation for Gigapixel Image Viewing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems face challenges in efficiently viewing and navigating very high-resolution images, such as whole-slide scans in pathology, due to their large size, which can exceed memory and network bandwidth limits, leading to slow loading times and loss of context when zooming in or out.
Innovation Solution
The system allows for dynamic hierarchical context organization, enabling users to view images at varying resolution levels by establishing child contexts for smaller regions of interest, allowing efficient retrieval and display of high-resolution areas over a network while maintaining context and reducing network load.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If entire high-resolution images are transmitted across a network, then complete image data is available for viewing, but network load increases significantly and response time deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the high-resolution image into multiple resolution levels and hierarchical contexts. Instead of transmitting the entire image at maximum resolution, the system transmits only the necessary portions at appropriate resolution levels, segmenting the data to reduce network load while maintaining viewing quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts and transmits only the specific regions of interest at high resolution rather than the entire image. Users can request specific areas for detailed viewing, and the system extracts only those portions at the required resolution level, reducing unnecessary data transmission.
2Measurement precision
If high-resolution images are displayed at maximum resolution, then viewing precision is improved, but memory requirements and display capability are exceeded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image into multiple resolution levels. The system displays lower-resolution versions of the entire image for overview, while only extracting and displaying high-resolution portions when needed for specific areas of interest, thus managing display area requirements effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a hierarchical context structure where higher-resolution images are nested within lower-resolution contexts. The high-resolution image is divided into multiple contexts that can be independently displayed at different resolution levels, allowing detailed viewing without requiring the entire high-resolution image to be displayed simultaneously.
3Measurement precision
If users zoom in to view details, then measurement precision is improved, but context information is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a nested hierarchical context structure where each context contains both the detailed high-resolution portion and references to the broader context. When users zoom in to a specific area, the system maintains links to the parent contexts, allowing users to navigate between detailed views and overview contexts without losing contextual information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds a hierarchical dimension to the traditional two-dimensional image viewing. Instead of simply zooming in and losing context, the patent creates multiple resolution levels and contexts that can be navigated between, providing both detailed view and contextual information simultaneously through the hierarchical structure.
4Ease of operation
If base images are displayed at low resolution for overview, then navigation is improved, but detail viewing capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image into multiple resolution levels. Low-resolution base images provide overview and navigation capability, while high-resolution portions are extracted on demand for detailed viewing. This segmentation allows the system to optimize for navigation at lower resolutions and for detail at higher resolutions as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the resolution level based on user interaction and viewing requirements. When users need overview, the system displays low-resolution base images for easy navigation. When users zoom in or request detailed viewing, the system dynamically loads and displays the corresponding high-resolution portions, providing flexible resolution adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for viewing portions of a very high-resolution image on a client device. The systems and methods provide for dynamic establishment of hierarchically organized contexts corresponding to regions within the image. The context hierarchy supports image inspection and analysis at increasing resolution levels for successively smaller regions. A context's region can be viewed at a base resolution appropriate for that context, while areas of interest within the context can be examined in more detail in higher resolution. To view areas of interest at resolution levels above the range for a given context, a child context can be established for a smaller region. The client device user can navigate from one area within the image to another by traversing previously established contexts and establishing new contexts.