Method and apparatus for three-dimensional filtering of angiographic volume data

A post-acquisition method for producing a filtered gray scale 3D angiographic image representation, the method comprising:

• generating a three-dimensional image representation that conforms to a pre-selected format with vascular contrast;
• defining a set of blood vessel width parameters Wi that range from a minimum width parameter Wmin to a maximum width parameter Wmax;
• generating a corresponding image Ii that selectively retains vascular structures of width Wi contained in the three-dimensional image representation for each width parameter Wi;
• and
• combining the images Ii to form a filtered angiographic image representation by selecting a filtered voxel value for each filtered voxel corresponding to the highest vessel score obtained for that voxel among the images Ii.

An apparatus for producing a filtered gray scale three-dimensional angiographic image representation of a subject, the apparatus comprising:

• an imaging scanner that acquires imaging data from at least a portion of a patient;
• a reconstruction processor that reconstructs a three-dimensional image representation from the imaging data, wherein the image representation includes vascular contrast effectuated by at least one of an associated contrast agent administered to the patient and an operative imaging modality of the imaging scanner that selectively images vascular structure;
• and
• a post-acquisition processor that:
• transforms the image representation into a pre-processed image representation that conforms to a pre-selected image format,
• generates a plurality of images Ii(x,y,z) each of which selectively retains vascular structures of width Wi contained in the pre-processed image, where the widths Wi span a range from a minimum Wmin to a maximum Wmax inclusive, and
• combines the images Ii(x,y,z) to form a filtered angiographic image representation that selectively retains vascular structures having widths between Wmin and Wmax inclusive.