Patent ID: 7331927

Claim:
A medical imaging system comprising: an image sensor receiving imaging signals from a region of interest defining an image volume; a memory coupled to the image sensor, the memory storing image data derived from the imaging signals, where the image data comprise: first image data for a first sub-region of the region of interest defining an image sub-volume and acquired during and synchronized to a first occurrence of a physiologic cycle; second image data for a second sub-region of the region of interest defining an image sub-volume and acquired during and synchronized to a second occurrence of the physiologic cycle; and a processor coupled to the memory for initiating display of the first image data while the second image data is being acquired, and for initiating display of the first image data joined with the second image data after the second image data is acquired based on the physiologic synchronization to form a larger overall image encompassing the image volume while other sub-volumes are being acquired.