Medical diagnostic imaging apparatus, image processing apparatus, and image generating method

1. A medical diagnostic imaging apparatus comprising:

storage circuitry configured to store therein volume data concerning a three-dimensional region inside an object; and

processing circuitry configured to calculate an index value concerning the volume data and generate a polar map image and a medical image based on the index value, the medical image being different from the polar map image, wherein

respective positions in the polar map image and the medical image are associated with each other by a certain coordinate conversion,

the volume data is divided into a plurality of first regions by a first boundary position,

the polar map image is divided into a plurality of second regions by a second boundary position, and

the processing circuitry receives an instruction that alters the first boundary position and alters mapping of the index value in the polar map image without altering the second boundary position in response to the instruction.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the three-dimensional region includes at least one chamber region out of the left ventricle, the left atrium, the right ventricle, and the right atrium of the heart of the object, and

the second region is a section in the polar map image.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the index value is calculated based on a position of each composition point that determines the volume data.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the volume data is a group of data in time series collected over time concerning the three-dimensional region.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the processing circuitry causes a display to display the polar map image, and

the polar map image is an image in which at least one of hue, saturation, and lightness determined based on the index value in each of the first regions is assigned to each of the second regions.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the processing circuitry causes a display to display the medical image, and

the medical image is an image in which at least one of hue, saturation, and lightness determined based on the index value in each of the first regions is assigned to each of the first regions.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one of hue, saturation, and lightness assigned to each of the second regions is determined based on a statistical value by using the index values in each of the first regions.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry

receives an instruction from an operator and alters the first boundary position,

causes a display to display a superimposed image in which information on the index value and boundary positions of the first regions are superimposed on an image generated from the volume data by three-dimensional rendering processing or cross-section reconstruction processing, and

alters a boundary line of or a vertex of a boundary of a region corresponding to the instruction received from the operator who has referred to the superimposed image.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry determines a first pixel value disposed in a section near the altered first boundary position by interpolation processing using pixel values based on index values disposed around the first pixel value.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry calculates the index value by processing including pattern matching between pieces of three-dimensional medical image data included in obtained volume data for at least one cardiac cycle.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the volume data is a group of ultrasonic image data including a plurality of pieces of three-dimensional ultrasonic image data generated by transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves.

12. An image processing apparatus comprising:

storage circuitry configured to store therein volume data concerning a three-dimensional region inside an object; and

processing circuitry configured to calculate an index value concerning the volume data and generate a polar map image and a medical image based on the index value, the medical image being differ from the polar map image, wherein

respective positions in the polar map image and the medical image are associated with each other by a certain coordinate conversion,

the volume data is divided into a plurality of first regions by a first boundary position,

the polar map image is divided into a plurality of second regions by a second boundary position, and

the processing circuitry receives an instruction that alters the first boundary position and alters mapping of the index value in the polar map image without altering the second boundary position in response to the instruction.

13. An image generating method comprising:

calculating an index value concerning volume data concerning a three-dimensional region inside an object; and

generating a polar map image and a medical image based on the index value, the medical image being differ from the polar map image, wherein

respective positions in the polar map image and the medical image are associated with each other by a certain coordinate conversion,

the volume data is divided into a plurality of first regions by a first boundary position,

the polar map image is divided into a plurality of second regions by a second boundary position that is not altered in accordance with alteration of the first boundary position, and

the image generating method further comprising:

receiving an instruction that alters the first boundary position; and

altering mapping of the index value in the polar map image without altering the second boundary position in response to the instruction.