Patent ID: 7362329

Claim:
A computerized method for rendering a three dimensional image, the method comprising: calculating a set of occluding shields in a voxel dataset using a transparency value associated with respective voxels of the dataset, wherein the transparency value of a voxel indicates an opacity of that voxel, and wherein each occluding shield comprises a multidimensional group of neighboring occluding voxels constructed such that voxel data that is behind the occluding shield will not contribute to a final image, and wherein the calculating includes designating a voxel whose effective opacity exceeds a specified opacity threshold as an occluding voxel; applying the occluding shields to identify the regions of the voxel data that are behind an occluding shield and therefore should not contribute to the final image; and rendering the voxel dataset, and excluding from said rendering the identified regions of the voxel data behind an occluding shield that do not contribute to the final image.