Patent ID: 8306354

Claim:
An image processing apparatus, comprising: a first shadow region detection unit for detecting a first shadow region from a contrast enhanced two-dimensional image constituting a contrast enhanced three-dimensional image obtained at a first time point among a plurality of contrast enhanced three-dimensional images of a subject obtained at different time points; a second shadow region detection unit for detecting, by the use of position information of a point in the first shadow region detected by the first shadow region detection unit, a second shadow region corresponding to the first shadow region from a contrast enhanced two-dimensional image constituting a contrast enhanced three-dimensional image obtained at a second time point different from the first time point; a display unit for displaying the first shadow region detected by the first shadow region detection unit and the second shadow region detected by the second shadow region detection unit; a database storing data that indicate a contrast enhanced three-dimensional image obtained at a point in time when a contrast enhancement effect is maximally reflected according to tumor type; an input receiving unit for receiving input of a tumor type; and an image determination unit for determining the contrast enhanced three-dimensional image obtained at a point in time when a contrast enhancement effect is maximally reflected based on the data stored in the database and the tumor type received by the input receiving unit.