Patent ID: 7890573

Claim:
A method of processing three-dimensional (3D) medical imaging volume data in a computer network comprising: a) providing a 3D volume data set to a server computer; b) initiating transfer of the 3D volume data set to a client computer over the network; c) performing rendering by processing the 3D volume data set at the server computer and transmitting the two-dimensional (2D) rendered images over the network to the client computer for display during the transfer of the 3D volume data set to the client computer; and d) switching to process the 3D volume data set at the client computer after the transfer of the 3D volume data set to the client computer is complete so as to continue further rendering at the client computer; and further comprising transmitting processing state data representing the operational state of the processing at the server computer from the server computer to the client computer before switching to process the 3D volume data set at the client computer, and configuring the client computer to a corresponding processing state using the processing state data before switching to process the 3D volume data set at the client computer.