Importance

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Abstract

An interactive virtual endoscopy system 10 includes a CT scanner 12 or other non-invasive examination apparatus which examines an interior region of a subject 14 in an examination region 16 and generates data indicative thereof. The data is stored in a volume image data memory 20. Using a sequence generating computer 22, a human operator 24 generates a sequence of sphere-mappable panoramic views of selected portions of the CT data along a viewpath in the patient 14. The sequence generating computer includes a view renderer 182 for rendering a plurality of views which in total cover the entire visual space about a viewpoint on the viewpath within the subject. A view compositer 240 combines the plurality of views into a full image covering the entire visual space about the viewpoint. The sequence is transferred to a server 26 which processes the data and makes it available for remote access. Over a local area network (LAN) 30, the data is selectively transferred, based on the commands of a remote human viewer 32, to a remote viewing computer 34. The data in decompressed and mapped into a spherical image for display on a remote display screen 36. Viewers of the sequence of spherical images have the liberty to turn at will and view in any direction from a particular viewpoint instead of being constrained to a look-forward path. In this way, viewers retain the sense of order and space which a look-forward series provides but with the added capability to investigate completely a space from any given viewpoint.

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First Claim