HIGH-SPEED DISPLAY ALGORITHM FOR 3D MEDICAL IMAGES USING MULTILAYER RANGE IMAGE

We propose a high-speed, three-dimensional display method for objects represented by voxels intended for three-dimensional image diagnostic systems that can be operated interactively. The method extends the concept of the conventional range image and introduces the multilayer range image that stores the distance from the projection plane to the object regardless of whether the object is visible or not. A range image is generated on the surface of any projection plane from the multilayer range images of 6 projection planes perpendicular to the coordinate axes and displayed in three dimensions after shading. Fast speeds are achieved by selecting the multilayer range images that correspond to the projection direction for processing and by eliminating operations on voxels which are not needed in the processing. We were able to display a 2563-voxel object on a 22 MIPS workstation in about 0.5 seconds. Moreover, we anticipate a response of less than one second on the next generation of 100 MIPS workstations.