Patent ID: 6765570
Filing Date: 2004-07-20
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps of imaging a three-dimensional (3D) volume, wherein the 3D volume is defined by a data set of voxels, each voxel expressed in the form of (x, y, z, datavalue), the method steps comprising:(a) creating one or more three-dimensional (3D) sampling probe(s), wherein each 3D sampling probe is a sub-volume of the 3D volume; (b) drawing at least a portion of an image of the 3D sampling probe(s) for display to a user, the image comprising voxels at an intersection of the 3D sampling probe(s) and the 3D volume; and (c) repeating drawing step (b) responsive to input from the user as the user moves a location of the 3D sampling probe(s) within the 3D volume so that as the 3D sampling probe(s) moves through the 3D volume, the image of the 3D sampling probe(s) is re-drawn sufficiently fast to be perceived as real-time by the user, thereby enabling the user to concurrently visualize a user selected feature defined by the datavalues as the user moves the 3D sampling probe(s) and step (b) is repeated.