Importance

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Abstract

First and second volume data are collected in advance for the same region of a human body under examination. By performing volume rendering along the set direction of line of sight, a composite image of a first three-dimensional image based on the first volume data and a second three-dimensional image based on the second volume data is produced. The volume rendering is performed taking into consideration whether the trimming of the front region has been specified or not. In the volume rendering, by setting the initial position of a point of interest on the plane of projection or on the plane section indicated by a depth map according to whether the trimming of the front region has been specified or not, a three-dimension imaging region is varied. When the trimming of the front region has been specified, the initial position of the point of interest is set on the plane of projection. Otherwise, the depth map is examined for value D1(x,y) of the point of interest and, if the value is less than the maximum depth Dmax, the initial position of the point of interest is set on the plane section. That is, the depth is set to D1(x, y). If the value is greater than maximum depth Dmax, the initial position of the point of interest is set on the plane of projection. That is, the depth is initialized to 0.

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First Claim