Patent ID: 8064684

Claim:
A method of accepting a selection of a cross-section of a voxel dataset and of projecting visual information representative of data in the cross-section, the selection being indicated by a human user making an alteration in the shape of a physical object, the physical object having a position and shape that defines a three dimensional surface, and the voxel dataset being stored in digital memory and comprising a set of data values in a three-dimensional array, which method comprises, in combination, the steps of: employing a first sensor to produce sensor data regarding the physical object after the alteration occurs, and employing a processor to process the sensor data to determine the position and shape of the three dimensional surface, and to identify the cross-section, which cross-section comprises a subset of the data values with positions in the three-dimensional array that correspond to the three dimensional surface, and projecting onto the three dimensional surface an image representative of the subset of data values that comprise the cross-section.