Patent ID: 8498462

Claim:
An image processing apparatus, comprising: a storage unit which stores volume data associated with an area including a contrast-enhanced artery as an examination target; a size calculation unit which calculates a vascular vessel lumen size and a vascular vessel wall size associated with an entire range from a proximal portion of the artery to a distal portion thereof, based on the volume data; an index calculation unit which calculates a single atherosclerotic index associated with the entire range of the artery based on the vascular vessel wall size and the vascularvessel lumen size; and a display unit which displays the atherosclerotic index, wherein the size calculation unit calculates a first difference amount between a vascular lumen size of an estimated healthy blood vessel model and the calculated vascular lumen size, calculates a second difference amount between a size of the estimated healthy blood vessel model and the calculated vascular wall size, and calculates the atherosclerotic index based on the first difference amount and the second difference amount.