Tomographic Image Display Marking for Accurate Depth Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for designating and displaying tomographic images with additional information, such as computer diagnosis results, are cumbersome when multiple images have markings close together, leading to potential misdesignation of images without markings.
Innovation Solution
A display control apparatus and method that uses a slider bar to display markings for additional information on specific tomographic images, allowing selective display of images with additional information in a depth direction, emphasizing these markings, and enabling user input for switching and hiding of computer-added information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a slider bar is used to display markings for multiple tomographic images with additional information, then the user can designate tomographic positions, but the markings become close to each other making it difficult to observe and easily cause misdesignation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and displays only the tomographic images with additional information (markings) in a dedicated display region, separating them from the full sequence of tomographic images. This extraction allows markings to be displayed with sufficient spacing and prominence, eliminating the crowding problem while maintaining accurate designation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the display into multiple regions: a first display region showing the full sequence of tomographic images with the slider bar, and a second display region showing only the extracted images with additional information. This segmentation allows the markings to be displayed in a dedicated space where they are sufficiently spaced and easily observable, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and designation accuracy.
2Loss of information
If all tomographic images are displayed in forward order, then the complete set is visible, but images with additional information are not emphasized making observation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts images with additional information from the full sequence and displays them in a dedicated second display region. This extraction emphasizes the important images with markings while maintaining the complete sequence in the first display region, thus preserving information completeness while improving ease of observation for images with additional information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses visual emphasis techniques including displaying markings in distinct colors or with enhanced visibility in the second display region. This visual differentiation makes images with additional information stand out and easier to observe, resolving the contradiction between maintaining complete information display and emphasizing important images.
3Adaptability or versatility
If markings are displayed close together on the slider bar, then all tomographic positions can be designated, but the user may mistakenly designate positions without markings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts images with markings and displays them in a separate second display region with sufficient spacing. This extraction ensures that markings are displayed with adequate separation, preventing misdesignation while maintaining the ability to access all tomographic positions through the first display region's slider bar.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a second display dimension/region dedicated to showing images with additional information. This dimensional separation allows markings to be displayed with appropriate spacing and visual prominence in the second region, while the first region maintains comprehensive coverage of all tomographic positions, thus resolving the contradiction between versatility and designation accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
For each of one or more specific tomographic images with additional information that is set to be added on a tomographic-image by tomographic-image basis, a CPU displays a marking representing the additional information at a position corresponding to a tomographic position of the specific tomographic image on a slider bar that is for designating a tomographic position. The CPU receives a specific display instruction to display, among a plurality of tomographic images, only the specific tomographic images that are on either side of the slider bar in the depth direction with respect to a reference that is a current position designated by a slider. The CPU then displays only the specific tomographic images in an order according to the depth direction, and displays the markings representing the additional information added to the respective specific tomographic images in an emphasized manner in the order according to the depth direction.