General Electric Company

General Electric Corporation Gmbh

Gerald Schroecker

Daniel John Buckton

Arthur Gritzky

Stefan Bruckner

Eduard Gröller

Alexey Karimov

Helmut Brandl

Erwin Fosodeder

Eduard Groeller

Andrej Varchola

Johannes Novotny

Various embodiments include systems and methods for utilizing depth from ultrasound volume rendering for 3D printing. Volumetric ultrasound dataset may be generated, based on echo ultrasound signals, and one or more volume rendered ultrasound images, based on the volumetric ultrasound dataset, may be displayed. Based on the one or more volume rendered ultrasound images and/or the volumetric ultrasound dataset, three-dimensional (3D) printing data may be generated. The 3D printing data may be configured to enable producing, via a 3D printer, a physical volume representation of one or more objects and/or structures in the one or more volume rendered ultrasound images. The 3D printing data may be based on 3D modeling of at least a portion of at least one of the one or more volume rendered ultrasound images. The 3D modeling may comprise a surface mesh representation.

Utilizing depth from ultrasound volume rendering for 3D printing

An imaging system and method acquire first ultrasound image data of a body at a first acquisition quality level, display one or more two-dimensional images of the body using the image data at the first acquisition quality level, and create second ultrasound image data at a reduced, second acquisition quality level. The second ultrasound image data is created from the first ultrasound image data that was acquired at the first acquisition quality level. The system and method also display a rendered multi-dimensional image of the body using the second ultrasound image data at the reduced, second acquisition quality level.

Imaging system and method providing scalable resolution in multi-dimensional image data

A method and system for applying shading to descriptors that are presented with 2D ultrasound images having corresponding shading is provided. The method may include mapping, by a processor, height values of a synthetic map to pixels of a descriptor. The method may include determining, by the processor, a gradient of the height values for each of the pixels of the descriptor. The method may include applying, by the processor, shading to the descriptor based on shading parameters and the gradient of the height values for each of the pixels of the descriptor to create a shaded descriptor. The method may include presenting, by the processor, the shaded descriptor at a display system with a 2D ultrasound image having shading corresponding with the shading applied to the shaded descriptor.

Method and system for presenting shaded descriptors corresponding with shaded ultrasound images

Various methods and systems are provided for shading a 2D ultrasound image, generated from ultrasound data, using a gradient determined from scalar values of the ultrasound image data. As one example, a method includes correlating image values of a dataset acquired with an ultrasound imaging system to height values; determining a gradient of the height values; applying shading to a 2D image generated from the dataset using the determined gradient; and displaying the shaded 2D image.

Methods and system for shading a two-dimensional ultrasound image

A method and system for volume-rendering. The method and system include generating a volume-rendered image that is shaded from a light direction, displaying the volume-rendered image, displaying a model of a solid at the same time as the volume-rendered image, and displaying a light direction indicator with respect to the model of the solid, wherein the position of the light direction indicator corresponds to the light direction used for shading the volume-rendered image.

Method and system for indicating light direction for a volume-rendered image

Systems and methods are provided for utilizing depth from volume rendering for 3D printing. Three-dimensional (3D) mesh data may be generated based on one or more volume rendered images and/or volumetric datasets corresponding thereto, obtained during medical imaging (e.g., based on echo ultrasound signals during ultrasound imaging). Generating the 3D mesh data may comprise computing a plurality of depth values, where each depth value corresponds to a particular voxel in the volumetric medical imaging datasets. The 3D mesh data may be configured to enable producing a physical volume representation of one or more objects and/or structures in the one or more volume rendered images. Thus, the 3D mesh data may be used for 3D printing. For example, 3D printing data may be generated based on the 3D mesh data. The 3D printing data may be configured and formatted based on a pre-defined 3D printing standard or file format.

Rendering a time sequence of 2-D images includes obtaining ultrasound image data, applying time variant noise, and raytracing the ultrasound image data to render pixels of a 2-D image for each of a plurality of time steps.

Method and apparatus for animate visualization of static 3-D data

A method, system and medical imaging device include accessing a 3D medical imaging dataset and generating a volume-rendered image from the 3D medical imaging dataset. Generating the volume-rendered image includes calculating a shading for the volume-rendered image based on a first light source, a second light source, and a third light source. The second light source and the third light source are both positioned differently than the first light source. The method, system, and medical imaging device also include displaying the volume-rendered image.

Method, system, and medical imaging device for shading with multiple light sources

A method for rendering an image from ultrasound image data includes dividing the ultrasound image data into at least a first group of voxels and a second group of voxels, based on comparing voxel echo intensity to a threshold value. The method further includes processing the first group of voxels according to a first protocol and processing the second group of voxels according to a second protocol. The method further includes generating an image that includes both the first group of processed voxels and the second group of processed voxels to enhance realism of the rendered image.

Method and apparatus for rendering an ultrasound image

Methods and system for visualizing 3D ultrasound data are provided. One method includes obtaining image slices from a volumetric image data set and generating a ray profile using one or more rays through at least one of the image slices, wherein the one or more rays extend along a depth of the volumetric image data set. The method further includes identifying one or more seed points along the one or more rays and defining a clipping surface using the one or more seed points, wherein the clipping surface defines a rendering region within the volumetric image data set. The method also includes rendering a 3D image of the rendering region within the volumetric image data set.

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Salzburg, Austria

Gerald Schroecker