Patent ID: 7295690

Claim:
An image processing apparatus comprising: an image input unit which inputs a plurality of medical images obtained by imaging; an information input unit which inputs diagnosis information associated with the input medical images; a rendering unit which performs rendering processing with respect to the input medical image; a parameter determining unit which determines a parameter for execution of the rendering processing on the basis of the diagnosis information, and an optimizing unit which optimizes the parameter for the medical image, wherein the medical image comprises a two-dimensional image, and the apparatus further comprises a pixel data generating unit which generates pixel data by concatenating each pixel of the two-dimensional image while maintaining connectivity in a direction perpendicular to a cross section, wherein the apparatus further comprises a keyword input unit which inputs a keyword for analysis of the diagnosis information, and said parameter determining unit determines a parameter for execution of the rendering processing from the keyword and the pixel data, wherein the parameter includes an opacity and color information corresponding to each CT value of a medical image and a line-of-sight direction in generating a three-dimensional image, and is selected from a table storing initial values thereof in advance by said parameter determining unit, and wherein said rendering unit executes shading processing and ray casting processing for the pixel data, the shading processing being performed to obtain color information and a shading value for the optimized pixel data, and the ray casting processing being performed to generate a rendering image in a line-of-sight direction on the basis of an opacity and a shading value which are assigned to the pixel data and an intensity of incident light.