# US 2014/0198102 A1 · Apparatus and method for generating medical image > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0198102 A1 - Document ID: US20140198102A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/156,623 - Filed: 2014-01-16 - Published: 2014-07-17 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-16 - Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Yun Tae KIM; Ji Young HONG; Jung Ho KIM - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140198102A1 ## CPC - G06T 15/08: Volume rendering - A61B 8/466: {adapted to display 3D data} - A61B 8/483: {involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data} - G06T 19/20: Editing of three-dimensional [3D] images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts - A61B 8/4405: {Device being mounted on a trolley} - A61B 8/56: {Details of data transmission or power supply} - G06T 2210/41: Medical - G06T 2219/2012: Colour editing, changing, or manipulating; Use of colour codes - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) ## Abstract Disclosed herein are a medical image generation apparatus and medical image generation method that realistically display an object or inner tissues of the object. The medical image generation apparatus includes a sample image extractor configured to extract a sample image from an original image containing color information of an object, a color gamut modeler configured to model a color gamut of the sample image to have a predetermined shape, a 2D color map generator configured to generate a 2D color map based on the modeled color gamut, a volume data generator configured to generate 3D volume data based on a sectional image of inner tissues of the object, and a control unit configured to generate a 3D color medical image by applying values of the 2D color map to a 3D grayscale medical image acquired by volume rendering of the 3D volume data. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus configured to generate a medical image, the apparatus comprising: a sample image extractor configured to extract a sample image from an original image containing color information of an object; a color gamut modeler configured to model a color gamut of the sample image to have a predetermined shape; a 2D color map generator configured to generate a 2D color map based on the modeled color gamut; a volume data generator configured to generate 3D volume data based on a sectional image of inner tissues of the object; and a control unit configured to generate a 3D color medical image by applying values of the 2D color map to a 3D grayscale medical image acquired by volume rendering of the 3D volume data. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the original image comprises at least one of a captured organ image of a patient, a captured image of blood vessels of a patient, and a baby image obtained by photographing a face of a baby. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sample image extractor extracts the sample image from a face region of the baby image. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the apparatus is configured to store, as metadata of the baby image, information indicating whether the baby image comprises both the face region and a surrounding environment or only the face region. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color gamut modeler represents a color gamut of the sample image in a blue-difference chroma component—red-difference chroma component (CbCr) plane of a luma component—blue-difference chroma component—red-difference chroma component (YCbCr) color space and models the color gamut represented in the CbCr plane to have a polygonal shape. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the color gamut modeler models the color gamut represented in the CbCr plane into the polygonal shape by representing the color gamut represented in the CbCr plane in a lightness—chroma—hue angle (LCH) color space, dividing a range of hue angles represented in the LCH color space by a number of angles of the polygonal shape, determining points with the highest chroma values respectively corresponding to the divided ranges of the hue angles as vertices of the polygonal shape, and connecting the determined vertices to one another. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the color gamut modeler determines values of a hollow region inside the color gamut modeled into the polygonal shape by interpolation. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the 2D color map generator generates the 2D color map such that, among lightness values, chroma values and hue values corresponding to the modeled color gamut, the lightness values and the chroma values are mapped along a horizontal axis of 2D coordinates and the hue values are mapped along a vertical axis of the 2D coordinates, wherein the horizontal axis corresponds to shading values of the 3D grayscale medical image, and the vertical axis corresponds to depth values of the 3D grayscale medical image. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the 2D color map generator converts the lightness values, the chroma values and the hue values of each of a plurality of coordinates of the 2D color map into R, G and B values. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the control unit generates the 3D color medical image by searching for a coordinate corresponding to the shading values and the depth values of each of a plurality of pixels of the 3D grayscale medical image in the 2D color map and applying R, G and B values of the searched coordinate to each of the corresponding plurality of pixels. ### Claim 11 A method of generating a medical image, the method comprising: extracting a sample image from an original image containing color information of an object; modeling a color gamut of the sample image to have a predetermined shape; generating a 2D color map based on the modeled color gamut; generating 3D volume data based on a sectional image of inner tissues of the object; and generating a 3D color medical image by applying values of the 2D color map to a 3D grayscale medical image acquired through volume rendering of the 3D volume data. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method according to claim 11, wherein the modeling comprises: representing the color gamut of the sample image in a blue-difference chroma component—red-difference chroma component (CbCr) plane of a luma component—blue-difference chroma component—red-difference chroma component (YCbCr) color space; and modeling the color gamut represented in the CbCr plane to have a polygonal shape. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method according to claim 11, wherein the generating of the 2D color map comprises generating the 2D color map such that, among lightness values, chroma values and hue values corresponding to the modeled color gamut, the lightness and chroma values are mapped along a horizontal axis of 2D coordinates and the hue values are mapped along a vertical axis of the 2D coordinates, wherein the horizontal axis corresponds to shading values of the 3D grayscale medical image, and the vertical axis corresponds to depth values of the 3D grayscale medical image. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13, further comprising converting the lightness values, the chroma values and the hue values of each of a plurality of coordinates of the 2D color map into R, G and B values. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, wherein the generating of the 3D color medical image comprises: searching for a coordinate corresponding to the shading values and the depth values of each of a plurality of pixels of the 3D grayscale medical image in the 2D color map; and applying R, G and B values of the searched coordinate to each of the corresponding plurality of pixels. ### Claim 16 An apparatus configured to generate a 3D color medical image of an object, the apparatus comprising: a 2D color map generator configured to generate a 2D color map based on images extracted from the object; a volume data generator configured to generate 3D volume data based on the object; and a control unit configured to generate the 3D color medical image based on the 2D color map and the 3D volume data. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the 2D color map generator comprises: a color gamut modeler to model a color gamut of the images extracted from the object; and a mapper configured to map lightness values, chroma values, and hue values corresponding to the modeled color gamut to 2D coordinates, to thereby generate the 2D color map. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising a probe configured to transmit an ultrasound signal towards the object and to receive an ultrasound echo signal reflected back from the object, wherein the volume data generator is configured to generate the 3D volume data based on the reflected ultrasound echo signal. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the control unit is further configured to perform a volume rendering operation on the 3D volume data to generate a 3D grayscale ultrasound image, and to generate the 3D color medical image based on the 3D grayscale ultrasound image. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the volume rendering operation comprises one of a surface rendering operation and a direct volume rendering operation.