High quality volume rendering with graphics processing unit

A machine-accessible storage medium that stores instructions that, if executed by a machine, will cause the machine to perform a method for generating a DRR (digitally reconstructed radiography) image, the method comprising:

• summing attenuation values along a ray trajectory through a 3-dimensional dataset of attenuation values at sample points along the ray trajectory;
• computing intermediate summation values for stages along the ray trajectory, wherein each of the stages includes a subset of the sample points, wherein for each of the stages the attenuation values summed within a given stage are summed with a previous stage intermediate summation value calculated for a stage previous to the given stage to generate a given stage intermediate summation value;
• generating a final accumulation value representative of a total attenuation summed along the ray trajectory;
• and
• generating the digitally reconstructed radiography image.

An apparatus for generating a DRR (digitally reconstructed radiography) image, comprising:

• means for summing attenuation values along a ray trajectory through a 3-dimensional dataset of attenuation values at sample points along the ray trajectory to generate a final accumulation value representative of a total attenuation summed along the ray trajectory;
• and
• means for computing intermediate summation values for stages along the ray trajectory, wherein each of the stages includes a plurality of the sample points, wherein for each of the stages the attenuation values summed within a given stage are summed with a previous stage intermediate summation value calculated for a stage previous to the given stage to generate a given stage intermediate summation value;
• and
• means for generating the digitally reconstructed radiography image.

A data processing system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a graphics device coupled to the processor, the graphics device including a plurality of parallel processing engines and memory to store instructions when executed by the processing engines will cause the graphics device to:
• sum attenuation values along a ray trajectory through a 3-dimensional dataset of attenuation values at sample points along the ray trajectory;
• compute intermediate summation values for stages along the ray trajectory, wherein each of the stages includes a plurality of the sample points, wherein for each of the stages the attenuation values summed within a given stage are summed with a previous stage intermediate summation value calculated for a stage previous to the given stage to generate a given stage intermediate summation value;
• generate a final accumulation value representative of a total attenuation summed along the ray trajectory;
• and
• generate a pixel of a digitally reconstructed radiography (“DRR”) image based on the final accumulation value.