Method and device for virtual endoscopy in a hollow tract

Abstract

A method and a device for virtual endoscopy in a hollow tract is disclosed in which at least one volume record of the hollow tract, recorded by tomographic imaging, is provided from which a virtual flight through the hollow tract in endoscopic perspective is calculated and visualized on a display device. In at least one embodiment, in the method and the device, before the visualization of the virtual flight, a virtual test flight without visualization is first simulated in which unobservable areas of the hollow tract are detected during the test flight. Subsequently, the observer is notified of the unobservable areas close to the location during the visualization of the virtual flight or the unobservable areas are automatically visualized during the virtual flight. Using the present method and the associated device, in at least one embodiment, the time consumption during virtual endoscopy may be reduced for the observer without overloading him with redundant information.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.