# US 8,786,594 B2 · Method and system for rendering a medical image > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,786,594 B2 - Document ID: US8786594B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 12/457,046 - Filed: 2009-05-29 - Published: 2009-12-03 - Granted: 2014-07-22 - Earliest claimed: 2008-05-30 - Assignees: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft - Applicants: Rajesh Kushwaha; Vivek Nair; Renganathan Ramamoorthy - Inventors: Rajesh Kushwaha; Vivek Nair; Renganathan Ramamoorthy - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8786594B2 ## CPC - G06T 15/08: Volume rendering - G06T 15/503: {Blending, e.g. for anti-aliasing} - G06V 40/14: Vascular patterns - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING ## Abstract At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a fast method and system for rendering a medical image. At least one embodiment of the method includes providing a 3D voxel dataset of the heart and generating a 3D vector representation of a selected part of the heart. At least one embodiment of the method further involves the blending of the 3D voxel dataset and the 3D vector representation in a common buffer and finally rendering the medical image, wherein the rendering is based on the blended 3D voxel dataset and the 3D vector representation, such that the selected part of the heart is highlighted. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of rendering a medical image using a processor, comprising: providing a 3D voxel dataset of a heart, the 3D voxel dataset being generated from one of a Computer Tomography (CT) data of the heart and a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data of the heart such that the 3D voxel data set is a spatial representation of the heart; generating, using the processor, a 3D vector representation of a selected part of the 3D voxel dataset of the heart; blending, using the processor, the 3D voxel dataset and the 3D vector representation to combine, in a common buffer, portions of the 3D voxel dataset that represent the selected part of the heart with the 3D vector representation replacing the portions of the 3D voxel dataset that represent the selected part of the heart with the 3D vector representation; and rendering, using the processor, the medical image, wherein said rendering is based on the blended 3D voxel dataset and the 3D vector representation, such that the selected part of the heart is shown as the 3D vector representation and another portion of the heart is shown as the 3D voxel representation. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising processing said 3D voxel dataset and 3D vector representation at the common buffer, where said common buffer resides in a graphics memory associated with a graphics processor. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected part is a left ventricle. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising using a look up table for mapping intensity values of the 3D vector representation to color values such that the selected part is highlighted. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising windowing, such that tissue covering the selected part is made transparent. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: extracting arteries of the heart from the 3D voxel dataset into another 3D voxel dataset; and regrouping the original 3D voxel dataset of the heart with the 3D voxel dataset of the arteries to a modified 3D voxel dataset, such that the arteries are highlighted, wherein the blending step is performed based on the modified 3D voxel dataset. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the 3D vector representation is based on one of Computer Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Positron Emission Tomography and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography data. ### Claim 8 A system for rendering a medical image, comprising: means for providing a 3D voxel dataset of a heart, the 3D voxel dataset being generated from one of a Computer Tomography (CT) data of the heart and a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data of the heart such that the 3D voxel data set is a spatial representation of the heart; generating means for generating a 3D vector representation of a selected part of the 3D voxel dataset of the heart; blending means for blending the 3D voxel dataset and the 3D vector representation to combine, in a common buffer, portions of the 3D voxel dataset that represent the selected part of the heart with the 3D vector representation replacing the portions of the 3D voxel dataset that represent the selected part of the heart with the 3D vector representation; and rendering means for rendering the medical image, wherein said rendering is based on the blended 3D voxel dataset and the 3D vector representation, such that the selected part of the heart is shown as the 3D vector representation and another portion of the heart is shown as the 3D voxel representation. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system according to claim 8, wherein the common buffer resides in a graphics memory associated with a graphics processor, which processes said 3D voxel dataset and said 3D vector representation. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The system according to claim 8, wherein the selected part is a left ventricle. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The system according to claim 8, wherein the system further comprise a look up table for mapping intensity values of the 3D vector representation to color values such that the selected part is highlighted. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The system according to claim 8, wherein the system further comprises windowing means, for making tissue covering the selected part transparent. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The system according to claim 8, wherein the system further comprises: extracting means for extracting arteries of the heart from the 3D voxel dataset into another 3D voxel dataset; and regrouping means for regrouping the original 3D voxel dataset of the heart with the 3D voxel dataset of the arteries to a modified 3D voxel dataset, such that the arteries are highlighted, wherein the blending is performed based on the modified 3D voxel dataset. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The system according to claim 8, wherein the 3D Vector representation is based on one of Computer Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Positron Emission Tomography and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography data. ### Claim 15 A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed on a computer device, configures the computer device to perforin a method comprising: providing a 3D voxel dataset of a heart, the 3D voxel dataset being generated from one of a Computer Tomography (CT) data of the heart and a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data of the heart such that the 3D voxel data set is a spatial representation of the heart; generating a 3D vector representation of a selected part of the 3D voxel dataset of the heart; blending the 3D voxel dataset and the 3D vector representation to combine, in a common buffer, portions of the 3D voxel dataset that represent the selected part of the heart with the 3D vector representation replacing the portions of the 3D voxel dataset that represent the selected part of the heart with the 3D vector representation; and rendering the medical image, wherein said rendering is based on the blended 3D voxel dataset and the 3D vector representation, such that the selected part of the heart is shown as the 3D vector representation and another portion of the heart is shown as the 3D voxel representation. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The computer readable medium according to claim 15, further comprising using a look up table for mapping intensity values of the 3D vector representation to color values such that the selected part is highlighted. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The computer readable medium according to claim 15, further comprising windowing, such that tissue covering the selected part is made transparent. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The computer readable medium according to claim 15, further comprising: extracting arteries of the heart from the 3D voxel dataset into another 3D voxel dataset; and regrouping the original 3D voxel dataset of the heart with the 3D voxel dataset of the arteries to a modified 3D voxel dataset, such that the arteries are highlighted, wherein the blending step is performed based on the modified 3D voxel dataset.