3D summary display for reporting of organ tumors

1. A computer-implemented method for visualizing a tumor in a volume data comprising:

providing a plurality of tumors, detected and segmented from the volume data;

storing locations of a plurality of voxels corresponding to each of the plurality of tumors;

determining a mesh of surface voxels for each of the plurality of tumors from the stored locations;

rendering the meshes for each of the plurality of tumors in a volume rendering window;

selecting a tumor of interest from the plurality of tumors rendered in the volume rendering window;

determining a correspondence of the selected tumor to a slice of the volume data, wherein the slice of the volume data is displayed in a main window.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing locations of a plurality of voxels corresponding to a reference structure in the volume data;

determining a mesh of surface voxels for the reference structure from the stored locations of the plurality of voxels corresponding to the reference structure in the volume data; and

rendering the mesh of surface voxels for the reference structure in the volume rendering window.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the rendering of the mesh of surface voxels for the reference structure in the volume rendering window is semi-transparent.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , further comprising specifying a degree of transparency of the mesh of surface voxels for the reference structure in the volume rendering window.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising updating, automatically, the slice of the volume data displayed in the main window upon selecting the tumor of interest.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising indicating a position of the selected tumor in the slice of the volume data displayed in the main window.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the correspondence of the selected tumor to the slice of the volume data further comprises:

identifying the selected tumor in the volume rendering window;

determining an orientation of a current view of the volume rendering window;

selecting a voxel of interest in the volume rendering window, wherein the voxel corresponds to a 3D line in the volume data;

evaluating all voxels on the 3D line, from front to back, comprising, searching, for each voxel, all tumor lists to determining whether a current voxel belongs to a tumor, wherein a first tumor intersected by the current voxel along the 3D line is determined to be the selected tumor;

identifying the first tumor intersected by the current voxel to be the selected tumor; and

displaying the slice in the volume data corresponding to the first tumor intersected by the current voxel in the main display.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the slice of the volume data is automatically selected as a middle slice of the selected tumor.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the slice of the volume data is automatically selected as a widest slice of the selected tumor.

10. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for visualizing a tumor in a volume data, the method steps comprising:

providing a plurality of tumors, detected and segmented from the volume data;

storing locations of a plurality of voxels corresponding to each of the plurality of tumors;

determining a mesh of surface voxels for each of the plurality of tumors from the stored locations;

rendering the meshes for each of the plurality of tumors in a volume rendering window;

selecting a tumor of interest from the plurality of tumors rendered in the volume rendering window;

determining a correspondence of the selected tumor to a slice of the volume data, wherein the slice of the volume data is displayed in a main window.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

storing locations of a plurality of voxels corresponding to a reference structure in the volume data;

determining a mesh of surface voxels for the reference structure from the stored locations of the plurality of voxels corresponding to the reference structure in the volume data; and

rendering the mesh of surface voxels for the reference structure in the volume rendering window.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the rendering of the mesh of surface voxels for the reference structure in the volume rendering window is semi-transparent.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising specifying a degree of transparency of the mesh of surface voxels for the reference structure in the volume rendering window.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising updating, automatically, the slice of the volume data displayed in the main window upon selecting the tumor of interest.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising indicating a position of the selected tumor in the slice of the volume data displayed in the main window.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the correspondence of the selected tumor to the slice of the volume data further comprises:

identifying the selected tumor in the volume rendering window;

determining an orientation of a current view of the volume rendering window;

selecting a voxel of interest in the volume rendering window, wherein the voxel corresponds to a 3D line in the volume data;

evaluating all voxels on the 3D line, from front to back, comprising, searching, for each voxel, all tumor lists to determining whether a current voxel belongs to a tumor, wherein a first tumor intersected by the current voxel along the 3D line is determined to be the selected tumor;

identifying the first tumor intersected by the current voxel to be the selected tumor; and

displaying the slice in the volume data corresponding to the first tumor intersected by the current voxel in the main display.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the slice of the volume data is automatically selected as a middle slice of the selected tumor.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the slice of the volume data is automatically selected as a widest slice of the selected tumor.

19. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for visualizing a tumor in a volume data, the method steps comprising:

providing a plurality of tumors, detected and segmented from the volume data;

storing locations of a plurality of voxels corresponding to each of the plurality of tumors;

determining a mesh of surface voxels for each of the plurality of tumors from the stored locations;

rendering the meshes for each of the plurality of tumors in a volume rendering window;

receiving a user selected point in the volume rendering window;

determining an orientation of a current view of the volume rendering window;

extending a voxel of interest in the form of a line from the user selected point through the volume data perpendicular to the orientation of the current view;

evaluating all voxels on the line, from the user selected point through the volume data, comprising, searching, for each voxel, all tumor lists to determining whether a current voxel belongs to a tumor, wherein a first tumor intersected by the current voxel along the line is determined to be a selected tumor; and

determining a correspondence of the selected tumor to a slice of the volume data, wherein the slice of the volume data is displayed in a main window.