METHOD FOR PRODUCING THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES FROM NUCLEAR DATA

A nuclear imaging tomographic scanner acquires data from a volume of interest and a tomographic reconstruction is used to produce a three-dimensional array of data elements. A three-dimensional image of an object within this volume of interest as viewed from a projection plane is created using this three-dimensional array of data. The resulting two-dimensional data is shaded by determining the distance between the projection plane and points on the surface of the object. The exact distance is determined using an interpolation method and more distant points are shaded darker. The shading is further accentuated by measuring the gradient of the object's surface and shading points on the surface with a higher gradient darker.