Patent ID: 7502026

Claim:
A method for imaging a three-dimensional data volume, said three-dimensional data volume comprising a plurality of voxels, each voxel comprising a three-dimensional location and a dataword, said dataword being representative of a physical phenomena, said method comprising: creating at least one three-dimensional sampling probe, wherein said three-dimensional sampling probe is the same size or a subset of said three-dimensional data volume, said three-dimensional sampling probe having a probe face in a probe face plane and an opposing probe face in an opposing probe face plane; producing a plurality of control points in said probe face plane, said plurality of control points defining one or more lines on said probe face plane; extending a ribbon section from said probe face plane toward said opposing probe face plane, one edge of said ribbon section being formed by said one or more lines; and selectively imaging datawords representative of said physical phenomena only at three-dimensional locations where said ribbon section intersects said three-dimensional sampling probe.