Patent ID: 7990378

Claim:
A method for performing a volume rendering of an image utilizing a computer having a processor, memory, and a display, said method comprising: globally segmenting image data that represents an image acquired by an imaging apparatus casting rays through a volume of interest, to thereby locate one or more boundaries in the image based on voxel intensity values accumulated along the rays; determining, using the computer, a regional opacity function using the image data in a vicinity of the boundaries, the regional opacity function based on the voxel intensity values at least one of the vicinity of the boundaries or at the boundaries; volume rendering the image data utilizing the regional opacity functions to modify the image, wherein the regional opacity function is used to weigh the voxel intensity values associated with one or more of the vicinity of the boundaries or the boundaries; and producing a default volume rendering using a global opacity function that is applied to the voxel intensity values prior to said globally segmenting the image data, wherein the voxel intensity values are weighted based on the global opacity function.