US 10,096,151 B2Granted

Methods and systems for three-dimensional visualization of deviation of volumetric structures with colored surface structures

AssigneeVarian Medical Systems International AG

InventorsJanos Zatonyi, Marcin Novotni, Patrik Kunz

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Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to methods and computer systems for converting datasets into three-dimensional (“3D”) mesh surface visualization, displaying the mesh surface on a computer display, comparing two three-dimensional mesh surface structures by blending two primary different primary colors to create a secondary color, and computing the distance between two three-dimensional mesh surface structures converted from two closely-matched datasets. For qualitative analysis, the system includes a three-dimensional structure comparison control engine that is configured to convert dataset with three-dimensional structure into three-dimensional surfaces with mesh surface visualization. The control engine is also configured to assign color and translucency value to the three-dimensional surface for the user to do qualitative comparison analysis. For quantitative analysis, the control engine is configured to compute the distance field between two closely-matched datasets.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method for blending at least two three-dimensional volumetric structures, the computer-implemented method comprising:

associating, via a processor, a first primary color and a first translucency to a first dataset sourced from a medical scanner, and a second primary color and a second translucency to a second dataset sourced from the medical scanner, each of the first dataset and the second dataset having a respective three-dimensional surface representation of a mammalian anatomical structure, the first primary color is visually distinct from the second primary color, the medical scanner captured the first dataset and the second dataset at different times;
assigning, via the processor, a color coding scheme to a set of distance differential values, the color coding scheme having a continuous color range, the set of distance differential values is associated with the first dataset and the second dataset;
shading, via the processor, a surface of a three-dimensional surface representation associated with at least one of the first dataset or the second dataset on a display based on the color coding scheme that corresponds to the set of distance differential values;
and
blending, via the processor, the first and second datasets by visualizing, via the processor, the translucent surfaces of the first and second datasets on the display to produce, via the processor, a blended, volumetric, and interactive representation of the first and second translucent surface datasets simultaneously on the display as the mammalian anatomical structure, the blended representation is depicted in a secondary color as blended from the first primary color based on the first translucency and the second primary color based on the second translucency such that an improvement or deterioration difference of the mammalian anatomical structure between the different times is visually noticeable and such that the set of distance differential values is set to the color coding scheme and is modified based on at least one of rotating or panning the blended representation while the opacity of the blended representation is changing, the processor is in communication with the display.

2 more elements

A method for computing a first three-dimensional surface representation and a second three-dimensional surface representation, the first three-dimensional surface representation having a first set of sampling points, the second three-dimensional surface representation having a second set of sampling points, the method comprising:

computing, via a processor, a distance differential at the second set of sampling points of the second three-dimensional surface representation from the first set of sampling points of the first three-dimensional surface representation, thereby generating, via the processor, a set of distance differential values between the first set of sampling points and the second set of sampling points, the first three-dimensional surface representation is visually distinct from the second three-dimensional surface representation, the first three-dimensional surface representation is sourced from a medical scanner, the second three-dimensional surface representation is sourced from the medical scanner, each of the first three-dimensional surface representation and the second three-dimensional surface representation depict a mammalian anatomical structure, the first three-dimensional surface representation and the second three-dimensional surface representation captured via the medical scanner at different times;
assigning, via the processor, a color coding scheme to the set of distance differential values, the color coding scheme having a continuous color range;
and
shading, via the processor, the surface of the second three-dimensional surface representation on a display based on the color coding scheme that corresponds to the distance differential values, the processor is in communication with the display;
and
transforming, via the processor, first and second datasets by visualizing, via the processor, translucent surfaces of the first and second datasets on the display to produce, via the processor, a blended, volumetric, and interactive representation of the first and second translucent surface datasets simultaneously on the display as the mammalian anatomical structure, the blended representation is depicted in a secondary color as blended from a first primary color based on a first translucency and a second primary color based on a second translucency such that an improvement or deterioration difference of the mammalian anatomical structure between the different times is visually noticeable and such that the set of distance differential values is set to the color coding scheme and is modified based on at least one of rotating or panning the blended representation while the opacity of the blended representation is changing, the first dataset associated with the first three-dimensional surface representation, the second dataset associated with the second three-dimensional surface representation.

3 more elements

A system for blending two three-dimensional volumetric structures, the system comprising:

a processor;
a memory in communication with the processor;
a display in communication with the processor;
an assignment module stored in the memory, executable via the processor, and configured to associate, via the processor, a first primary color and a first translucency to a first dataset sourced from a medical scanner, and a second primary color and a second translucency to a second dataset sourced from the medical scanner, each of the first dataset and the second dataset having a respective three-dimensional surface representation of a mammalian anatomical structure, the first primary color visually distinct from the second primary color, the medical scanner captured the first dataset and the second dataset at different times, the assignment module is configured to assign a color coding scheme to a set of distance differential values, the color coding scheme having a continuous color range;
a shading module configured to shade a surface of the second three-dimensional surface representation on the display based on the color coding scheme that corresponds to the set of distance differential values, the processor is in communication with the display;
and
a conversion module stored in the memory, executable via the processor, and configured to transform, via the processor, the first and second datasets by visualizing, via the processor, the translucent surfaces of the first and second datasets on the display to produce, via the processor, a blended, volumetric, and interactive representation of the first and second translucent surface datasets simultaneously on the display as the mammalian anatomical structure, the blended representation is depicted in a secondary color as blended from the first primary color based on the first translucency and the second primary color based on the second translucency such that an improvement or deterioration difference of the mammalian anatomical structure between the different times is visually noticeable and such that the set of distance differential values is set to the color coding scheme and is modified based on at least one of rotating or panning the blended representation while the opacity of the blended representation is changing.

4 more elements

A system for computing a first three-dimensional surface representation and a second three-dimensional surface representation, the first three-dimensional surface representation having a first set of sampling points, the second three-dimensional surface representation having a second set of sampling points, the system comprising:

a processor;
a memory in communication with the processor;
a display in communication with the processor;
a distance field computation, color to vertex assignment and shading module stored in the memory, executable via the processor, and configured to compute, via the processor, a distance differential at the second set of sampling points of the second three-dimensional surface representation from the first set of sampling points of the first three-dimensional surface representation, where the first three-dimensional surface representation is visually distinct from the second three-dimensional surface representation, thereby generating, via the processor, a set of distance differential values between the first set of sampling points and the second set of sampling points, to assign, via the processor, a color coding scheme to the set of distance differential values, the color coding scheme having a continuous color range, and to shade, via the processor, the surface of the second three-dimensional surface representation on the display based on the color coding scheme that corresponds to the distance differential values, the first three-dimensional surface representation is sourced from a medical scanner, the second three-dimensional surface representation is sourced from the medical scanner, each of the first three-dimensional surface representation and the second three-dimensional surface representation depict a mammalian anatomical structure, the first three-dimensional surface representation and the second three-dimensional surface representation captured via the medical scanner at different times;
and
a conversion module stored in the memory, executable via the processor, and configured to transform, via the processor, the first and second datasets by visualizing, via the processor, the translucent surfaces of the first and second datasets on the display to produce, via the processor, a blended, volumetric, and interactive representation of the first and second translucent surface datasets simultaneously on the display as the mammalian anatomical structure, the blended representation is depicted in a secondary color as blended from a first primary color based on a first translucency and a second primary color based on a second translucency such that an improvement or deterioration difference of the mammalian anatomical structure between the different times is visually noticeable and such that the set of distance differential values is set to the color coding scheme and is modified based on at least one of rotating or panning the blended representation while the opacity of the blended representation is changing.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.