Patent ID: 8819591

Claim:
A method of treatment planning, comprising: providing, by a treatment planning system, a three-dimensional computer-simulated virtual environment including a virtual artifact that is a three-dimensional simulation of a patient anatomy, wherein the three-dimensional simulation is generated from one or more images taken of the patient anatomy; and performing at least one treatment planning operation within the virtual environment, the at least one treatment planning operation comprising a contouring operation that comprises performing the following to create a three-dimensional volume of interest (VOI) contour: delineating a single three-dimensional volume around a three-dimensional region of the virtual artifact within the three-dimensional computer-simulated virtual environment that corresponds to at least a portion of a VOI without performing delineation within a plurality of two-dimensional slices; and generating the three-dimensional VOI contour in the three-dimensional computer-simulated virtual environment responsive to the single three-dimensional volume being delineated.