Patent ID: 8494250

Claim:
A method for conveying spatial relationships in three-dimensional medical imaging, the method comprising: displaying a first three-dimensional representation of a first diagnostic view of at least a portion of the patient, the first three-dimensional representation being at a first viewing angle; receiving an indication of a second diagnostic view of the portion; animating a transition from the first diagnostic view to the second diagnostic view, the transition comprising a plurality of intermediary three-dimensional representations of the portion, each of the intermediary three-dimensional representations of the portion corresponding to different intermediary viewing angles; and displaying a second three-dimensional representation of the second diagnostic view of the portion after the transition, the second three-dimensional representation being at a second viewing angle different than the first viewing angle, the different intermediary viewing angles different than the first and second viewing angles; wherein displaying the first three-dimensional representation of the first diagnostic view comprises displaying with a first clipping plane for a first standard two-dimensional representation, wherein displaying the second three-dimensional representation of the second diagnostic view comprises displaying with a second clipping plane for a second standard two-dimensional representation, and wherein animating comprises removing the first clipping plane and adding the second clipping plane to a volume used for rendering the first and second three-dimensional representations.