Method, system and apparatus for rendering medical image data

1. A method of rendering medical image data, comprising:

obtaining an image of a volume of patient tissue having a plurality of tissue types;

for each of a plurality of voxels of the image:

determining a first type indicator value indicating a likelihood that the voxel depicts a first one of the tissue types; and

storing the first type indicator value in association with the voxel;

setting a first type indicator threshold for the first tissue type;

selecting a first subset of the voxels having type indicator values that satisfy the first type indicator threshold;

rendering, on a display, (i) the first subset of the voxels, and (ii) a selectable threshold adjustment element;

receiving, via the threshold adjustment element, a modified first type indicator threshold;

responsive to receiving the modified first type indicator threshold, selecting an updated first subset of the voxels having first type indicator values that satisfy the modified first type indicator threshold; and

rendering, on the display, the updated first subset of the voxels.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

for each of the plurality of voxels:

determining a second type indicator value indicating a likelihood that the voxel depicts a second one of the tissue types;

storing the second type indicator value in association with the voxel; and

setting a second type indicator threshold for the second tissue type.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the rendering further comprises applying a second visual filter to a second subset of the voxels having second type indicators that satisfy the second type indicator threshold.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the rendering further comprises:

when a voxel is a member of the first subset and the second subset, determining whether the corresponding first and second type indicator values satisfy the respective type indicator thresholds; and

when the determination is affirmative, selecting one of the first and second visual filters to apply to the voxel.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first type indicator value comprises executing a probability model based on the intensity of the voxel and the intensity of adjacent voxels.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type indicator value is an intensity value of the voxel.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of tissue types includes one or more of vascular tissue and nervous tissue.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of tissue types includes one or more of vascular tissue, grey matter nervous tissue, and white matter nervous tissue.

9. A computing device for rendering medical image data, comprising:

an input device;

a display;

a memory;

a processor interconnected with the input device, the display and the memory, the processor configured to;

obtain, from the memory, an image of a volume of patient tissue having a plurality of tissue types;

for each of a plurality of voxels of the image:

determine a first type indicator value indicating a likelihood that the voxel depicts a first one of the tissue types; and

store the first type indicator value in association with the voxel;

set a first type indicator threshold for the first tissue type;

select a first subset of the voxels having type indicator values that satisfy the first type indicator threshold;

render, on the display, (i) the first subset of the voxels, and (ii) a selectable threshold adjustment element;

receive, via the threshold adjustment element, a modified first type indicator threshold;

responsive to receiving the modified first type indicator threshold, select an updated first subset of the voxels having first type indicator values that satisfy the modified first type indicator threshold; and

render, on the display, the updated first subset of the voxels.

10. The computing device of claim 9 , the processor further configured to:

for each of the plurality of voxels:

determine a second type indicator value indicating a likelihood that the voxel depicts a second one of the tissue types;

store the second type indicator value in association with the voxel; and

set a second type indicator threshold for the second tissue type.

11. The computing device of claim 10 ; the processor further configured to render the image by: applying a second visual filter to a second subset of the voxels having second type indicators that satisfy the second type indicator threshold.

12. The computing device of claim 11 , the processor further configured to render the image by:

when a voxel is a member of the first subset and the second subset, determining whether the corresponding first and second type indicator values satisfy the respective type indicator thresholds; and

when the determination is affirmative, selecting one of the first and second visual filters to apply to the voxel.

13. The computing device of claim 9 , the processor further configured to determine the first type indicator value by executing a probability model based on the intensity of the voxel and the intensity of adjacent voxels.

14. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the first type indicator value is an intensity value of the voxel.

15. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of tissue types includes one or more of vascular tissue and nervous tissue.

16. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of tissue types includes one or more of vascular tissue, grey matter nervous tissue, and white matter nervous tissue.