Patent ID: 8358304

Claim:
A method for representing 3D image data sets in 2D images comprising the following steps: generating with an imaging device a 3D image data set of a 3D image volume, wherein the 3D image data set comprises voxel values each being assigned to a certain voxel in the 3D image volume; defining with a computer a viewing direction used for generating the 2D image from the 3D image data set; assigning with the computer a first color value to each voxel, wherein the first color value is determined from the voxel value by using an original color chart; assigning with the computer a second color value to each voxel, wherein the second color value is determined from the voxel value by using a depth color chart generated from the original color chart by permuting at least two color channels or wherein the second color value is determined from the first color value by permuting at least two color channels; and generating the 2D image from the 3D image data set by using a volume rendering method, wherein a color value of the voxel used for volume rendering is calculated from the first and the second color value by means of a given weighting function depending on a depth of the voxel in the defined viewing direction.