Automatic analysis in virtual endoscopy

A method for interactively displaying a three-dimensional rendering of a structure having a lumen comprising the steps of:

• a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data from a series of two-dimensional images representing at least one physical property associated with the three-dimensional structure;
• b. segmenting a selected region of interest from the three-dimensional volume of data based on a threshold value of the physical property, wherein the threshold value is adaptively adjusted in the region of interest;
• c. creating an isosurface of a selected region of interest from the three-dimensional volume of data based on selected values of the physical property representing the selected region of interest;
• d. generating a wireframe model of the isosurface;
• and
• e. rendering the wireframe model in an interactive three-dimensional display.

A system for interactively displaying a three-dimensional rendering of a structure having a lumen and indicating regions of abnormal wall thickness comprising:

• a. volume formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data from a series of two-dimensional images representing at least one physical property associated with the three-dimensional structure;
• b. isosurface creation means for creating an isosurface of a selected region of interest from the three-dimensional volume of data based on a selected value of the physical property representing the selected region of interest;
• c. wireframe generation means for generating a wireframe model of the isosurface, the wireframe model comprising a plurality of vertices;
• d. vertex grouping means for grouping the vertices of the wireframe model into populations having abnormal wall structure;
• and
• e. rendering means for rendering the wireframe model in an interactive three-dimensional display.

A system for interactively displaying a three-dimensional rendering of a structure having a lumen and indicating regions of abnormal wall thickness comprising:

• a. formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data from a series of two-dimensional images representing at least one physical property associated with the three-dimensional structure;
• b. segmentation means for segmenting a selected region of interest from the three-dimensional volume of data based on a threshold value of the physical property, wherein the threshold value is adaptively adjusted;
• c. isosurface creation means for creating an isosurface of a selected region of interest from the three-dimensional volume of data based on selected values of the physical property representing the selected region of interest;
• d. wireframe generation means for generating a wireframe model of the isosurface, the wireframe model comprising a plurality of vertices;
• and
• e. rendering means for rendering the wireframe model in an interactive three-dimensional display.

A method for interactively displaying three dimensional structures comprising the steps of:

• a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data from a series of two-dimensional images representing at least one physical property associated with a three dimensional body;
• b. segmenting a selected region of interest from the volume of data based on selected values of the physical property representing the selected region of interest;
• c. rendering the segmented region of interest as a surface rendered image in an interactive three-dimensional display, therein producing a virtual three-dimensional environment;
• and
• d. displaying a volume-rendered image of the interactive three-dimensional display adjoining the surface-rendered image.

A method for interactively displaying three dimensional structures comprising the steps of:

• a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data from a series of two-dimensional images representing at least one physical property associated with a three dimensional body;
• b. segmenting a selected region of interest from the volume of data based on selected values of the physical property representing the selected region of interest;
• c. determining an arbitrarily oriented cross-sectional area of the selected region of interest;
• and
• d. rendering the segmented region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, therein producing a virtual three-dimensional environment.

A method for interactively displaying three dimensional structures comprising the steps of:

• a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data from a series of two-dimensional images representing at least one physical property associated with a three dimensional body;
• b. segmenting a selected region of interest from the volume of data based on selected values of the physical property representing the selected region of interest;
• c. generating a wireframe model of the segmented region of interest, wherein the wireframe model comprises a plurality of vertices and information regarding the connectivity of the plurality of vertices is provided by connectivity matrices;
• d. re-ordering the connectivity matrices;
• and
• e. rendering the segmented region of interest in an interactive three-dimensional display, therein producing a virtual three-dimensional environment.

A method for interactively displaying a three-dimensional rendering of a three-dimensional structure having a lumen comprising the steps of:

• a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with the three-dimensional structure;
• b. segmenting a selected region of interest from the three-dimensional volume of data;
• c. creating a surface of the selected region of interest based on selected values of the physical property representing the selected region of interest;
• and
• d. grouping regions of the surface into populations having a characteristic indicating abnormal structure.

A method for indicating regions of a three-dimensional structure having an abnormal wall characteristic comprising:

• a. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with the three-dimensional structure;
• b. constructing a three-dimensional model of the three-dimensional structure from the three-dimensional volume of data;
• and
• c. grouping regions of the three-dimensional model into populations having a characteristic indicating abnormal structure.

A system for interactively displaying a three-dimensional rendering of a three-dimensional structure having a lumen comprising:

• a. formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with the three-dimensional structure;
• b. segmentation means for segmenting a selected region of interest from the three-dimensional volume of data;
• c. surface creation means for creating a surface of the selected region of interest based on selected values of the physical property representing the selected region of interest;
• and
• d. surface grouping means for grouping regions of the surface into populations having a characteristic indicating abnormal wall structure.

A system for indicating regions of a three-dimensional structure having an abnormal wall characteristic comprising:

• a. formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with the three-dimensional structure;
• b. modeling means for constructing a three-dimensional model of the three-dimensional structure from the three-dimensional volume of data;
• and
• c. grouping means for grouping regions of the three-dimensional model into populations having a characteristic indicating abnormal structure.

A method for indicating regions of a colon having an abnormal wall characteristic comprising:

• b. inflating the colon with gas;
• c. forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with the colon, the three-dimensional volume of data comprising a three-dimensional matrix of voxels wherein each voxel has an associated voxel value;
• and
• d. grouping the voxels, as a selected function of voxel value, into populations having a characteristic indicating abnormal wall structure.

A system for indicating regions of a colon having an abnormal wall characteristic comprising:

• a. colon preparation means for inflating the colon with gas;
• b. volume formation means for forming a three-dimensional volume of data representing at least one physical property associated with the colon, the three-dimensional volume of data comprising a three-dimensional matrix of voxels wherein each voxel has an associated voxel value;
• and
• c. voxel grouping means for grouping the voxels, as a selected function of voxel value, into populations having a characteristic indicating abnormal wall structure.