JP2001149366A - Three-dimensional image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a three-dimensional image processing device for highly accurately and efficiently designating a position when designating plural points to a three-dimensional display image. SOLUTION: Three-dimensional image data is formed on the basis of a physical quantity from an object, and a projection image from the preset plural sight line directions is formed by the data to be displayed as a three-dimensional multilayer image. One image of this three-dimensional multilayer image is selected, and a desired position is designated by a mouse. A medical image processing device is characterized by measuring geometrical information on the basis of a designated position by recognizing it as an object surface when this designated position is adapted to a preset condition.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention is used in combination with a medical image diagnostic apparatus such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an X-ray CT apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, and a nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatus in the medical field. The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image processing device used for measuring geometric information of a display object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Three-dimensional computer graphics (hereinafter referred to as 3DCG) creates a pseudo three-dimensional space in which the depth of an object from a certain viewpoint, the shadow of a light source, and the like are calculated, as in a world seen by the human eye. It is a technology to display.

At present, this 3DCG is used in various fields. Above all, in the medical field, non-invasively grasping the structure of blood vessels, internal organs, and the like in a living body in three dimensions as a three-dimensional image is indispensable as a method of surgery, diagnosis, and the like. For example, by grasping the vegetative blood vessels that enter the tumor, it is possible to determine the malignant benignity and the therapeutic effect. In addition, using a three-dimensional image, an explanation (informed concept) of an operation policy or the like for a patient can also be given.

As described above, in the diagnosis and the like using 3DCG, by measuring the geometric information of the 3DCG such as a viscera displayed on a computer display, the size of a tumor or the like, the size of a bone fragment to be cut or the like is measured. You might try to recognize. For example, when checking the length between two desired points of an organ, the following procedure is generally used.

[0005] An operator first rotates an image of a three-dimensional image from a specific line of sight (angle) displayed on a display to find an angle at which a target portion is displayed. Next, a first position is designated on the image from the angle by using a mouse or the like at a target portion.
Similarly, the second position is designated, and the distance between the two points is measured by a predetermined calculation or the like. Then, the length of a desired portion can be known from the correspondence between the organ of the three-dimensional image and the real organ.

In the measurement of the geometric quantity of the three-dimensional image,
In some cases, it is necessary to specify a plurality of points to determine the range of the measurement. At this time, in the conventional image display device, the following two methods are generally used.

The first method is a method in which a three-dimensional image is first rotated to find an angle at which all of a plurality of target points can be seen, and a desired plurality of points are designated on a screen from the angle. However, it is not efficient to search for the angle every time a plurality of points are specified, and in many cases, it is impossible to see all target parts in an image from one direction. In addition, even if there is an image of an angle displaying all target parts, it is desirable to specify a point from the front when specifying a point, and specification from other viewpoints may cause a measurement error. .

The second method is a method of first finding an angle at which a target portion is displayed for each point to be specified, and specifying a desired position of a plurality of points in each image from the plurality of angles. . However, even in this case, searching for an angle for each point to be specified requires a lot of trouble and is not efficient.

[0009]

As described above, the conventional three-dimensional image processing apparatus has a disadvantage that it is necessary to search for an appropriate angle every time a point is specified, which is inefficient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in measuring geometric information of a subject using a three-dimensional display image, when specifying a plurality of points with respect to the three-dimensional display image, a high cost is required. It is an object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional image processing device capable of efficiently and accurately specifying a position.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided a projection image generating means for generating a plurality of projection images having different viewing directions from three-dimensional image data of a display object, and simultaneously displaying the plurality of projection images. First display means, second display means for displaying a pointer for specifying a desired position on at least one of the plurality of displayed projected images, and a pointer designated by the pointer. Measuring means for obtaining geometric information on the display object based on the position.

According to this configuration, when a desired position is designated for a three-dimensional image point, it is not necessary to search for a new angle for each designation, and the position can be designated efficiently with high accuracy. Can be.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, first to third embodiments in which a three-dimensional image processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied as a medical image processing apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the following embodiments, a medical image processing apparatus in an X-ray CT apparatus will be described as an example. However, the medical image processing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this. It can be used in combination with various medical image diagnostic apparatuses such as an apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, and a nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatus.

(First Embodiment) In the first embodiment, a medical image processing for designating a desired position of a three-dimensional image of a blood vessel or the like by surface rendering and measuring geometric information of the three-dimensional image is performed. The device 1 will be described.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an X-ray diagnostic apparatus using a medical image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a medical image diagnostic apparatus 2 is an apparatus for imaging a subject 10, and is an X-ray CT apparatus in the present embodiment. The X-rays emitted from the X-ray generation system 201 are collimated in a predetermined direction by a collimator 202, and extra X-rays are filtered by a wedge filter 203 to avoid unnecessary exposure. The detector 204 detects X-rays transmitted through the subject 10 and sends out current signals of a plurality of tomographic images to the data collection unit 11.

The data collection unit 11 receives the electric signals of a plurality of tomographic images from the detector 204, converts the electric signals from analog amounts into digital amounts, and converts them into tomographic image data.
Send out to 2.

The tomographic image reconstructing unit 12 performs high-speed image restoration and emphasis processing called preprocessing on each of the digitized tomographic image data to reconstruct a cross-sectional image. In general, an image is subjected to noise, deformation, and the like in various operations, and considerably deteriorates before finally becoming a digital image. Therefore, the tomographic image reconstruction unit 1
In 2, the image is corrected by correcting the geometric distortion to a constant reference coordinate value by affine transformation or by interpolating the density value corresponding to the affine transformation value. In order to further improve the image, emphasis by density value conversion, noise removal by filter, smoothing by emphasis of low frequency component,
An outline portion is emphasized by emphasizing a high-frequency component.
The cross-sectional image data that has been subjected to these processes is sent to the three-dimensional data generation unit 13 together with the position information data.

The three-dimensional data generator 13 receives the cross-sectional image data and the position information data, and arranges the cross-sectional image data in a three-dimensional memory space based on the position data.
After that, the region of the subject 10 is extracted for each slice of the tomographic image data. Then, the slices are stacked while supplementing the tomographic image data by linear interpolation or the like, and pixel values (hereinafter, voxels) of the three-dimensional image are generated. The three-dimensional image data by the voxels is sent to and stored in the three-dimensional data storage unit 15.

In the image display by the surface rendering method shown in the first embodiment, the surface of the subject 10 is extracted by binarizing the voxel values. Also,
In the case of the volume rendering method described in the second embodiment described later, the binarization is not performed, and the pixel value of the projection image described later is determined based on the voxel value as it is.

Based on the three-dimensional image data stored in the storage unit 15, the three-dimensional image generation unit 23 forms each of the objects to be displayed on a plurality of planes (hereinafter, projection planes) perpendicular to a plurality of predetermined line-of-sight directions. A projection transformation for projecting a grid point is performed. In addition. The plurality of gaze directions are set in advance by the operator. Further, as shown in the second embodiment, when a three-dimensional image to be displayed is obtained by volume rendering,
The rendering process is performed by assigning the opacity and color corresponding to the voxel value to each voxel. Further, the three-dimensional image data stored in the storage unit 15 and the designated position coordinate data from the designated position recognizing unit 19 described later, or the sectional coordinate group data from the sectional setting unit 21 or the measurement object coordinates from the measurement object setting unit 22 A composite image is generated based on the group data.

As will be described later, when the three-dimensional image on the near side of the cross section is not displayed, the image on the near side is not generated in the generation of the composite image. When the cross section and the image on the near side and the image on the back side with the cross section as a boundary are color-coded, different colors are assigned to the corresponding voxels.

The image processing unit 29 performs lightness calculation for shading light, that is, shading processing, so that the three-dimensional image thus obtained on the projection plane becomes a more natural image.

The display unit 35 has a normal display mode for displaying a normal three-dimensional image, a first display mode using a three-dimensional multi-layer image (hereinafter, multi-frame), and a second display mode for enlarging and displaying a desired image of the multi-layer image. This is a display means that has a plurality of display modes, such as the display mode described above, and displays a three-dimensional image in a selected format. The first and second display modes will be described later in detail, but the operator can use the mouse to move a desired three-dimensional image of the subject 10 displayed in either the first or second display mode. Specify a position.

The designated position recognizing unit 19 recognizes a measurement point specified on the screen by an operation described later as a point existing on the surface of the three-dimensional image of the subject 10 by the following recognition method. That is, the first measurement point specified on the screen is
The coordinates are input to the designated position recognition unit 19 as display coordinates. Then, the designated position recognition unit 19 determines a straight line in the three-dimensional memory space based on the correspondence between the three-dimensional memory coordinates stored in the storage unit 15 and the display coordinates. Then, along this straight line, the pixel values (voxel values) of the three-dimensional image are sequentially obtained from the near side of the screen to the far side of the screen.
In this process, a condition for recognizing the surface is set in advance, and coordinate points satisfying the condition are set on the surface of the display object,
That is, it is recognized as the designated first measuring point. The condition for recognizing the surface is a condition for recognizing the surface when the voxel value of a certain coordinate point exceeds a predetermined threshold, or the condition for recognizing the surface when the change amount of the voxel value of an adjacent coordinate point exceeds a predetermined threshold. It can be set by a condition for recognition or a condition combining the above two conditions.

Then, the designated position recognizing unit 19 generates three-dimensional memory coordinate data of the first measurement point recognized as the surface, and sends it to the three-dimensional image generating unit 23.

Further, the section setting section 21 reads out the coordinate data stored in the storage section 15 and, based on the position designated by the position designating section 31, a section orthogonal to a predetermined line-of-sight direction or a predetermined inclination. The data of the three-dimensional memory coordinate group of the cross section having the following is generated, and this coordinate group data is sent to the three-dimensional image generation unit 23.

The measurement object setting section 22 stores the storage section 1
5 is read, and data of a three-dimensional memory coordinate group of a measurement object (for example, ruler, protractor, etc.) corresponding to the scale of the three-dimensional image displayed on the display unit 35 is generated, and the coordinate group is generated. The data is sent to the three-dimensional image generation unit 23.

The measuring section 27 calculates geometric information such as the length, angle, area, and volume of a desired part based on the three-dimensional memory coordinates of the position recognized with respect to the three-dimensional image of the subject 10. This measurement result is displayed on the display unit 35,
It can be known by outputting to an output unit 33 such as a printer or a floppy disk.

The position designation section 31 is a designation section for designating a position pointed by a cursor displayed on the display section 35 by operating input means such as a mouse and a keyboard. In the present embodiment, a position designation using a mouse is taken as an example.

Next, in the medical image processing apparatus having the above configuration, a desired position is designated for the three-dimensional image of the subject 10 displayed on the display unit 35, and geometric information based on the position is measured. Will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

First, a case where the length of the target portion of the subject 10 is measured by designating two desired positions on the three-dimensional image in the first display mode and calculating the distance between the two points is described. explain.

FIG. 2 shows the display unit 3 according to the first display mode.
5 shows a three-dimensional image displayed. The first display mode is a display mode for simultaneously displaying images from a plurality of preset directions as a multi-frame and performing measurement in the multi-frame. The figure shows the front,
It is assumed that the image is shown in nine directions: left, right, upward, downward, upper right, lower right, upper left, and lower left. The number of images of the multi-frame (that is, the number of directions to be set) and each set direction can be changed as necessary. Although FIG. 2 shows three-dimensional images in nine different directions, for example, it is also possible to add tenth direction by adding a back surface or the like.

On the screen of the first display mode shown in FIG. 2, first, an image in which a part to be measured is displayed is selected with a mouse and activated.

Next, a first measurement point is designated for the selected image. The position specification of the measurement side point can be realized by moving the cursor to a desired position with a mouse and assigning a right button click to a position specification operation.

The first measurement point designated by this designation operation is recognized as a point existing on the surface of the three-dimensional image of the subject 10 by the above-described method. And the first
The three-dimensional memory coordinates of the measurement point are sent to the three-dimensional image generation unit 23, and the designated first measurement point is displayed in the multi-frame. At this time, in the multi-frame, it is preferable that the three-dimensional image existing on the surface where the first measuring point is hidden is displayed in a known manner, such as a watermark display or by changing the color, shape, or the like.

If the part for which the second measuring point is to be designated is also displayed in the image in which the first measuring point is designated, the second point is similarly designated for the same image. Specify. If the first point is not displayed in the specified image, one image in which the portion to be measured is displayed is selected again from the remaining images in the other directions, and the image is selected. In this case, the second point may be designated.

On the other hand, the target portion may not be displayed in any of the preset multi-frames.
In this case, one image of the multi-frame is selected and activated with a mouse or the like, and the user moves his / her line of sight to the image in a direction along the screen to search for a target part. The assignment of the line-of-sight movement operation can be realized, for example, by moving the left button of the mouse while dragging it in a desired direction along the screen. The image display accompanying the movement of the line of sight is reflected on all the images of the multi-frame. This search allows the operator to specify each measurement point in the manner described above for the image in which the target portion is displayed from the multi-frame.

After the designation of the first and second measurement points, the distance between the two points can be measured by a predetermined operation. The measurement result can be output by the output unit 33 such as a printer.

Next, a case where two desired positions are designated on the three-dimensional image in the second display mode and the length of the target portion is measured will be described with reference to FIG. Second
When the second display mode is selected by a predetermined operation, the multi-frame in the plurality of directions is displayed first, and when one image in the multi-frame is selected (for example, clicked with a mouse), the display mode is displayed. The screen of the unit 35 is a display mode in which the one image enlarged in place of the multi-frame is displayed. Hereinafter, one enlarged image is referred to as a full image.

FIG. 3A shows a multi-frame displayed on the display unit 35 in the first display mode. First, one image in which a part to be measured is displayed is selected from the multi-frame with a mouse or the like, and the image is changed to a full image shown in FIG.

Next, the first measuring point is designated for this full image by the same operation as in the first display mode.
When the designation of the first measurement point is executed, the screen returns to the multi-frame from the full image again. At this time, as in the first display mode, in the remaining images in the other directions, the first image is displayed.
When the position at which the measurement point is designated is displayed, it is preferable that the first measurement point is reflected.

Then, the second measurement point is designated in the same procedure as for the first measurement point. Further, when the part for which the second measurement point is to be specified is displayed in the full image, a predetermined operation, such as specifying the first display mode while pressing the shift key, may be assigned. Thus, control can be performed without shifting from a full image to a multi-frame.

On the other hand, the target portion may not be displayed in any of the preset multi-frames.
In this case, one image of the multi-frame is selected with a mouse or the like to make it a full image, and the line of sight is moved in the direction along the screen with respect to the full image as in the case of the first display mode. Find the part to be. The image display accompanying the movement of the line of sight is reflected on all the images of the multi-frame. This search allows the operator to specify each measurement point in the manner described above for the image in which the target portion is displayed from the multi-frame.

According to such a configuration, when the position of the measurement point is designated, images from various directions are displayed in advance, so that it is troublesome to search for the angle (gaze direction) at which the designated position is displayed. Can be omitted. Even if the designated position is searched, images in other directions can be viewed simultaneously by the multi-frame, and the rotation of one image is reflected in all the multi-frames. Therefore, even when there are a plurality of measurement points, quick search and efficient position designation can be performed.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, a case has been described in which a measurement point is specified for a three-dimensional image obtained by surface rendering and geometric information is calculated.

On the other hand, in the second embodiment, a case of a three-dimensional image by so-called volume rendering in which opacity and color are assigned to pixel values of the three-dimensional image data itself and displayed three-dimensionally will be described. The most significant features in this case are that a position can be specified in a direction perpendicular to the screen (hereinafter, a depth direction) and geometric information on the position can be measured. Here, “position designation in the depth direction” means position designation of a point where the position designated for the three-dimensional image corresponds to the inside of the actual display target in correspondence with the target. Therefore,
It is also conceivable that the designated position is inappropriate, such as a hollow part in an organ. Such an inappropriate designation position can be solved by re-designation in a correction mode described later.

The schematic configuration of the three-dimensional image display device according to the second embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG.

First, in the volume rendering three-dimensional image display in the second display mode, two desired positions are designated in the depth direction, and the distance between the two points is measured to obtain the length between the target parts. The operation for measuring the value will be described.

First, one image in which the part to be measured is displayed is selected from the multi-frame with a mouse or the like, and the image is made a full image.

Next, the first measuring point is designated for the full image. At this time, if the specified point can be recognized as a surface by the recognition method described in the first embodiment, the specified position recognition unit 19 generates three-dimensional memory coordinate data of the first measurement point.

On the other hand, when it is impossible to recognize the surface,
Since the designated position recognizing unit 19 cannot generate the three-dimensional memory coordinate data of the first measurement point, it is necessary to correct the designated position of the first measurement point and to re-designate the designated position. At this time, it is preferable that the position of the first measurement point is indicated by a message or voice notification that the correction is required. Thereafter, the mode shifts to the designated correction mode for redesignating the first measurement point automatically or by a predetermined operation such as pressing a shift key while a message is displayed, and the measurement point is reset by a manual operation described below. Specify.

First, the operation of shifting the designated position in the depth direction will be described. The shift operation of the designated position in the depth direction is performed, for example, by assigning the left button of the mouse to the front side of the screen in the depth direction, and assigning the right button to the back side of the screen, and pressing the button corresponding to the movement direction, moving the cursor on the screen. It can be realized by moving from the specified position. At this time,
It is preferable to change the display form of the cursor so that the moving direction of the designated position can be determined only on the screen. For example, if the screen moves in the depth direction on the back side of the screen, a sign indicating that the electric field is directed to the back side (a sign in which the arrow is viewed in the traveling direction) is shown. By indicating a symbol indicating that the arrow is facing (a symbol when the arrow is viewed from the traveling direction side), the moving direction can be distinguished. In addition, a message “UP” may be displayed for moving the screen on the far side in the depth direction, and a message “DOWN” may be displayed for moving on the near side, or the color of the cursor may be changed depending on the moving direction.

Next, an operation of shifting the designated position in the direction along the screen will be described. In this case as well, it can be realized by assigning a predetermined operation in the same manner as the shift operation in the depth direction and moving the cursor on the screen from the specified position. When the cursor is moved in the direction along this screen, for example, the cursor is marked with a cross or “right” so as to be distinguished from the movement in the depth direction.
It is preferable to display a message such as "left" or "left".

The second measuring point is also designated in the same manner as the first measuring point, and if it is necessary to correct the point, it may be specified again by the manual operation.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to specify the position of the measurement point also in the depth direction, so that it is possible to obtain further geometrical information of an organ or the like. In addition, manual operation is possible for position designation and correction, and in the case of the manual operation, the direction of change of the designated position can be easily grasped from the screen by displaying a symbol or the like, thereby improving measurement accuracy and operability of the device. Can be planned.

In the designation of the second measurement point, the designated position of the second measurement point may be located near the first measurement point, such as measuring a neck of a thin blood vessel. In this case, without following the same procedure as the first measurement point, the mode is shifted to the continuation mode described below according to a predetermined operation, and designation or re-designation of the second measurement point based on the first measurement point is performed. May be done. That is, when the mode shifts to the continuation mode, the cursor moves to the already specified first measurement point, and the first measurement point can be set as a reference point (start point). Then, the second measurement point may be specified by shifting the first measurement point little by little by the above-described shift operation.
Similarly, in the case of specifying two or more dense measurement points, the next measurement point may be specified based on the already specified measurement point.

According to such a configuration, the position of a measurement point can be efficiently specified, for example, when the measurement points are dense.

Next, the operation of displaying a cross-sectional image based on the position of the cursor in a three-dimensional image by volume rendering in the second display mode will be described.

First, a desired image is set to a full image by the above-described operation, and a cursor is positioned at a position designated for the full image. Then, by performing a predetermined operation, a three-dimensional image including a cross section including the designated position is displayed. This cross section is a plane that is perpendicular to the line of sight and includes a point specified by the cursor, or a cross section that has a predetermined inclination and includes a point specified by the cursor.

When displaying a three-dimensional image by this cross section,
It is preferable to distinguish the color between the three-dimensional image of the display object and the cross-section so that the cross-section can be distinguished from a portion other than the cross-section. Further, if the colors are distinguished between the near side and the far side in the depth direction with the cross section as a boundary, a more visible three-dimensional image can be obtained.

If the user is interested in the three-dimensional image on the back side of the cross section, it is possible not to discriminate by color as described above and not to display the three-dimensional image on the near side of the cross section. . This can be realized by not creating an image on the near side of the above-mentioned cross section in the three-dimensional image generation unit 23.

According to such a configuration, a cross-sectional image can be displayed based on a desired position such as an internal surface of an organ or the like.
It is possible to set the position of the measurement point with high accuracy. In addition, since the cross-section and the three-dimensional images on the back side and the front side with the cross-section as a boundary are assigned and displayed with individual colors, a more visible image display can be realized. Further, when the user is interested in the three-dimensional image on the back side of the cross section, the three-dimensional image on the near side of the cross section is not displayed, so that the three-dimensional image on the back side of the cross section can be more easily viewed.

Finally, the operation for confirming the two measuring points specified according to the above-described procedure will be described below.

For the three-dimensional image of the screen enlarged in the second display mode, a first measurement point and a second measurement point are specified in accordance with the above-described procedure, and the two measurement points are displayed on the screen. And However, it is difficult for the operator to determine whether or not the two set points are accurately set at desired positions in an image viewed from one direction. This is particularly noticeable when the measurement point is specified in the depth direction.

In such a case, the set two points can be confirmed by switching the displayed three-dimensional image to an image from a different line-of-sight direction. Hereinafter, the operation will be described.

First, the viewing direction of the enlarged three-dimensional image is changed to a desired viewing direction by a predetermined operation. For example, according to a three-dimensional image from the line of sight rotated 90 ° clockwise (or counterclockwise), the set measurement point can be viewed from right beside, and the determination of the set position becomes easy. At this time, if a straight line connecting the two set measurement points is displayed,
Further intuitive judgment is possible. Further, in order to improve the operability, the line-of-sight direction of the change destination may be set in advance, and may be easily changed by a predetermined operation (for example, assignment of the F1 key or the like).

Although not displayed on the screen, the gaze direction of each three-dimensional image displayed in a multi-frame is changed in conjunction with the change of the gaze direction in the enlarged three-dimensional image. Therefore, the setting position can be easily determined and confirmed by referring to the multi-frame. If the designated position is to be corrected, the correction procedure described above may be followed.

The change of the line of sight direction can be useful when searching for a part where a desired position is displayed. In addition, when the above-described cross-section is set for each three-dimensional image in the line-of-sight direction to be changed, if the cross-sections are displayed so as to be distinguished (eg, by color display), a more easily viewable three-dimensional image can be obtained.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to change the line-of-sight direction in the full image and reflect the change in the multi-frame, so that it is possible to confirm the designated position of the measurement point from various directions. Can be. As a result, an accurate measurement point position can be set, and high-accuracy measurement can be realized. In addition, by setting the line of sight direction of the change destination in advance, the change operation can be easily performed, and the work efficiency can be improved.

(Third Embodiment) In the first and second embodiments, the measurement points are set by using the cursor, and the distance between the two points is measured.

On the other hand, in the third embodiment, the measurement object such as a ruler is displayed on the screen without specifying the position of the measurement point by the cursor, and the length or the like is directly measured on the three-dimensional image. Things. This measurement is useful when an approximate distance or the like is simply measured without requiring high-accuracy geometric information.

Referring to FIG. 4, a description will be given of a case where the distance is directly measured using a measurement object such as a ruler 40 with respect to the three-dimensional image enlarged in the second mode.

First, the operation of moving the ruler 40 will be described. In FIG. 4A, a ruler 40 displayed on the display unit 35 has a scale corresponding to the scale of a real subject, and can be moved to a desired position by a drag operation of a cursor. By moving the cursor to the left rotation button 41 and performing a decision operation such as double-clicking, FIG.
As shown in (b), the ruler 40 rotates left around the left rotation button 41. As for the right rotation, by performing the same operation on the right rotation button 42, the ruler 40 can be rotated right as shown in FIG. 4C.

As for the measurement, the distance can be easily measured by adjusting the scale of the ruler 40 to a desired position of the three-dimensional image by the above-mentioned moving operation.

According to such a configuration, when rough measurement is desired, measurement can be performed simply and quickly.

Although the present invention has been described based on the first embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the gist thereof is not changed, for example, as shown in the following (1) to (3). Various modifications are possible within the range.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the measurement points in the first display mode for displaying the multi-frame or the second display mode for displaying the image selected in the multi-frame as a full image on the screen are displayed. The position was specified. On the other hand, a third display mode may be provided in which the multi-frame and the full image selected in the multi-frame are simultaneously displayed on the screen, and the position of the measurement point may be specified in this mode.

(2) The number of images to be enlarged is not limited to one. For example, when two measurement points are specified, two images are selected in a multi-frame, and the selected two images are simultaneously used as enlarged images. A configuration having a fourth display mode for displaying on the screen may be employed.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the length of a desired portion of the subject is obtained by designating two measurement points and measuring the distance between the two points. However, the geometric information that can be obtained by the present invention includes not only the length but also, for example, an angle based on three designated points, a cross-sectional area based on a set cross-section, and a volume in an organ.

[0082]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a three-dimensional image processing apparatus capable of efficiently specifying a position with high accuracy when a measurement point is specified for a three-dimensional display image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a medical image display / measurement device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a three-dimensional multilayer image in a first display mode.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an image enlarged from a three-dimensional multilayer image in a second display mode.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a third embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 ... Subject 11 ... Data collection / calculation part 12 ... Tomographic image reconstruction part 13 ... Three-dimensional image data generation part 15 ... Three-dimensional image data storage part 19 ... Designated position recognition part 21 ... Section setting part 22 ... Measurement object setting part 23 ... three-dimensional image generation unit 27 ... measurement unit 29 ... image processing unit 31 ... position designation unit 33 ... output unit 35 ... display unit 40 ... ruler 41 ... right rotation button 42 ... left rotation button

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (reference) G06T 1/00 G06F 15/62 390B 7/00 415 F term (reference) 4C093 AA22 AA26 CA18 CA50 DA02 EA11 EA12 EE09 FC14 FD01 FD04 FD05 FD07 FF07 FF12 FF13 FF21 FF22 FF23 FF32 FF43 FG01 FG04 FG05 FG12 FG13 FH02 4C096 AB39 AD14 AD15 DC16 DC22 DC36 DC37 DC40 DD08 DD13 DD20 5B050 AA02 BA03 BA09 EA07 A27 FA12 FA09 AE07 BA03 BA05 BA24 CA13 CB13 CD05 CD20 CE08 CE16 DA20 DB03 DC03 DC04 DC08

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A projection image generating means for generating a plurality of projection images having different viewing directions from three-dimensional image data of a display object, a first display means for simultaneously displaying the plurality of projection images, Second display means for displaying a pointer for specifying a desired position on at least one of the plurality of displayed projection images, and the display object based on the position specified by the pointer And a measuring means for obtaining geometric information related to the three-dimensional image processing apparatus. 2. The three-dimensional image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first display means further has a function of enlarging and displaying at least one of the plurality of projection images. apparatus. 3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the first display unit has a function of displaying a mark indicating a position designated by the pointer on the plurality of projection images.
A three-dimensional image processing apparatus according to claim 1. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second display unit has a function of displaying the pointer in a manner in which the pointer moves in a depth direction with respect to a screen. 3D image processing device. 5. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the second display unit has a function of changing a display color or a display mode of the pointer in accordance with the movement of the pointer. 3. The three-dimensional image processing device according to 1. 6. A section setting means for setting a section passing through a position designated by the pointer in the three-dimensional image data, and a section of the section based on the three-dimensional image data of the section and the three-dimensional image data of the display object. Image combining means for generating a combined image of the projected image and the projected image of the display object, wherein the first display means displays the cross section of the combined image and the display object as different colors. The three-dimensional image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the three-dimensional image processing apparatus has a function of: 7. The first display means displays the projected image of the display object on the near side and the projected image of the display object on the back side in different colors with the cross section set by the cross section setting means as a boundary. The three-dimensional image processing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a display function. 8. The tertiary image according to claim 6, wherein said first display means has a function of not selectively displaying a projected image of a display object on the near side with said cross section as a boundary. Original image processing device. 9. The three-dimensional image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a change unit that changes a line-of-sight direction of the projection image generated by the projection image generation unit or a number of the directions. 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second display unit further has a function of displaying a graphic of a measurement support tool for obtaining geometric information on the projection image or the enlarged projection image as a position input target on a screen. The three-dimensional image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 11. The three-dimensional data of the display object is data generated based on any of ultrasonic waves, electromagnetic waves, electric energy, particle beams, and radiation received from the display object. The three-dimensional image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: