Methods and apparatus to facilitate visualization of anatomical shapes

A method for generating an image, said method comprising:

• receiving data regarding a scan of an anatomy;
• performing a first 3D shape filtering of the received data to generate at least two disparate responses;
• and
• generating a first merged image of the disparate responses.

A method for generating an image, said method comprising:

• receiving data regarding a scan of an anatomy;
• performing a first 3D shape filtering of the received data;
• generating a first image using the 3D shape filtered data;
• displaying the generated image to a user to review;
• receiving from the user a response parameter;
• and
• generating a second image using the received response parameter.

A method for obtaining data, said method comprising:

• accessing scan data;
• generating a plurality of responses using the accessed scan data;
• from the responses, classifying a plurality of regions according to shape;
• performing a cluster analysis;
• determining a center of gravity for each cluster;
• and
• performing an auto-segmentation based upon the determined center of gravity.

An imaging system comprising:

• means for accessing data;
• and
• a computer operationally coupled to said means, said computer configured to:
• generate a first response including a plurality of potential first objects of interest of a first shape from data regarding a region of interest (ROI);
• generate a second response including a plurality of second objects of interest for a second shape different than the first shape from the data regarding the ROI;
• perform a morphological closing on the second response to produce a second cleaned response including a plurality of completed second objects;
• decrease the number of potential objects of interest in the first response by deleting any potential first objects that overlap any completed second objects to obtain a cleaned first response;
• and
• generate an image using at least one of the first cleaned response and the second cleaned response.

A computer readable medium encoded with a program configured to instruct a computer to:

• receive data regarding a scan of an anatomy;
• perform a first 3D shape filtering of the received data to generate at least two disparate responses;
• and
• generate a first merged image of the disparate responses.

A computer readable medium encoded with a program configured to instruct a computer to:

• receive data regarding a scan of an anatomy;
• perform a first 3D shape filtering of the received data;
• generate a first image using the 3D shape filtered data;
• display the generated image to a user to review;
• receive from the user a response parameter;
• and
• generate a second image using the received response parameter.

An imaging system comprising:

• means for accessing data;
• and
• a computer operationally coupled to said means, said computer configured to:
• scan an anatomy to acquire data;
• and
• determine at least one local curvature around a null space of a gradient of the acquired data.

A computer readable medium encoded with a program configured to instruct a computer to:

• access scan data;
• generate a plurality of responses using the accessed scan data;
• from the responses, classify a plurality regions according to shape;
• perform a cluster analysis;
• determine a center of gravity for each cluster;
• and
• perform an auto-segmentation based upon the determined center of gravity.