Image processing system, image processing apparatus, and image processing method

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• a stereoscopic display apparatus configured to display a stereoscopic image enabled for a stereoscopic vision using a plurality of parallax images;
• a rendering processor configured to generate a plurality of parallax images by applying a rendering process to volume data that is three-dimensional medical image data from a plurality of viewpoint positions having different relative positions with respect to the volume data;
• and
• a display controller configured to cause the stereoscopic display apparatus to display a graphic image that includes a cursor that is operable by a given input unit in a three-dimensional stereoscopic image space in which a stereoscopic image is displayed on the stereoscopic display apparatus and an image of a given graphic indicating a depth-direction position of the cursor in a three-dimensional space represented by a coordinate system of the volume data, together with the parallax images generated by the rendering processor, wherein
• the cursor is applied with a different color corresponding to the depth-direction position of the cursor and
• the image of the given graphic indicates a distribution of colors that are applied to the cursor corresponding to the depth-direction position and having a shape extending in the depth direction.

An image processing method executed by an image processing system including a stereoscopic display apparatus that displays a stereoscopic image enabled for a stereoscopic vision using a plurality of parallax images, the image processing method comprising:

• generating a plurality of parallax images by applying a rendering process to volume data that is three-dimensional medical image data from a plurality of viewpoint positions having different relative positions with respect to the volume data;
• and
• displaying a graphic image that includes a cursor that is operable by a given input unit in a three-dimensional stereoscopic image space in which a stereoscopic image is displayed on the stereoscopic display apparatus and an image of a given graphic indicating a depth-direction position of the cursor in a three-dimensional space represented by a coordinate system of the volume data, together with the parallax images generated, on the stereoscopic display apparatus, wherein
• the cursor is applied with a different color corresponding to the depth-direction position of the cursor and
• the image of the given graphic indicates a distribution of colors that are applied to the cursor corresponding to the depth-direction position and having a shape extending in the depth direction.