Method of visualizing a dynamic anatomical structure

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of visualising a dynamic anatomical structure (), a computer program and a user interface. The method comprises (a) providing a sequence of three-dimensional medical images (M, M, M, . . . MZ) of a dynamic anatomical structure () spanning a time period (T), (b) providing a dynamic model (), in particular surface of the anatomical structure, (c) determining a volume of interest () containing an anatomical feature of interest () within each of the three-dimensional images, wherein the volume of interest () follows the position and/or the shape of the anatomical feature of interest () across the time period and wherein the volume of interest () is smaller than the complete field of view of the three-dimensional medical images (M, M, M, . . . MZ), and (d) providing a three-dimensional visualisation environment (), wherein a visualisation () corresponding to a particular point in time comprises (i) a volume rendering of the volume of interest () of the three-dimensional image; and (ii) a visualisation of the dynamic model () in the same coordinate system. Preferably, the three-dimensional visualisation environment () allows for displaying the dynamic model () and the volume rendered volume of interest () for each three-dimensional image across the time period in cine mode.