1. A method for obtaining a segmented region corresponding to an anatomical organ in a volume image, comprising:
generating a smoothed image from the volume image;
forming a core segmentation of the volume image according to the smoothed image;
increasing the size of the core segmentation of the volume image to form the segmented region for the anatomical organ according to data obtained from the core segmentation, wherein increasing the size of the core segmentation comprises obtaining a low characteristic value and a high characteristic value from the core segmentation; and
storing data corresponding to the segmented region in a memory.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a starting point within the volume image wherein the starting point corresponds to a location within the anatomical organ.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the smoothed image comprises spatially filtering the volume image.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein increasing the size of the core segmentation further comprises constraining the increase to within a predetermined propagation distance from the boundary of the core region.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising estimating noise magnitude in the volume image data and using the estimate of noise magnitude to generate the smoothed image.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the memory is a display buffer.
7. A method of segmenting a region corresponding to an anatomical organ of interest in a volume image, the method comprising:
receiving a starting point within the volume image and corresponding to a location within the anatomical organ;
generating a smoothed image by spatially filtering the volume image;
segmenting a core region within the smoothed image based on a predetermined smoothness threshold criterion, wherein the core region includes the starting point;
obtaining a low characteristic value and a high characteristic value according to the range of values within the core region;
generating an expanded segmented region corresponding to the anatomical organ of interest by expanding the core region according to voxel values within the range defined by the obtained low and high characteristic values; and
presenting the expanded segmented region of the anatomical organ of interest on a display.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising estimating noise magnitude in the volume image data and using the estimate of noise magnitude to generate the smoothed image.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein expanding the core region is constrained to within a predetermined propagation distance from the boundary of the core region.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the propagation distance is a geodesic distance.
11. The method of claim 7 wherein receiving the starting point comprises accepting an on-screen operator entry.
12. The method of claim 7 wherein receiving the starting point comprises receiving data from a computer system.
13. The method of claim 7 further comprising computing a volume of the organ of interest according to dimensions of the expanded segmented region and displaying the computed volume.
14. The method of claim 7 wherein spatially filtering the volume image is performed by filtering 2-D image slices that are used to generate the volume image.
15. The method of claim 7 wherein spatial filtering is an iterative operation, with processing steps repeated two or more times.
16. The method of claim 7 further comprising forming one or more versions of the volume image at different resolutions.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein generating an expanded segmented region comprises combining the one or more versions of the volume image at different resolutions.
18. The method of claim 7 wherein the organ of interest is taken from the group consisting of a liver, a kidney, a gall bladder, a stomach, and a heart.
19. The method of claim 7 wherein segmenting the core region further comprises relocating the starting point.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A hook for a shoulder sling, comprising:
a generally horizontal base with a first end, middle portion, and a second end, said base having an upstanding, upwardly-projecting prong, the prong having a bottom end located on said base near the base’s second end, a lower distal section near said base, and a top end \xbd-1.5 inches above the base, said base having a generally horizontal moveable clamp of stretchable elastic material, said clamp being secured near the base’s first end;
said base further comprising a fastening strap that threads through the base and is fastenable in a loop for securing the hook to a backpack strap; and,
said moveable clamp being adapted to extend horizontally past said base’s middle portion to said upstanding, upwardly-projecting prong to detachably engage with said distal section of the prong near said base, so that the movable clamp when detachably engaged with said distal section of the prong is close to and generally parallel to the generally horizontal base, for receiving an elongated strap horizontal portion in a first position between the middle portion of said base and the moveable clamp and in a second position above the middle portion of the base and the moveable clamp.
2. A hook for holding a shoulder sling on a user’s shoulder, the hook comprising:
a generally horizontal base with a proximal end, middle portion, distal end, and a longitudinal axis and lateral sides extending between the proximal and distal ends, said base further comprising a fastening strap that threads through the base and is fastenable in a loop for securing the hook to a backpack strap;
a prong upending from the generally horizontal base near the distal end of the base, the prong having a bottom end at the base, a top end above the base, a distal side, a proximal side, a first lateral side, and a second lateral side; and
a moveable clamp of stretchable elastic material, said clamp having a proximal portion and a distal portion, the proximal portion being secured to the base at a proximal connection near the proximal end of the base, and said moveable clamp extending generally horizontally, from said proximal connection, across said middle portion of the base, and along said first lateral side of the prong near the base, to a distal connection where the clamp detachably engages the distal side of the prong near said bottom end of the prong, so that, when detachably engaging the distal side of the prong, the clamp is close to and generally parallel to the generally horizontal base for receiving an elongated strap horizontal portion in a first position between the middle portion of said base and the moveable clamp and in a second position above the middle portion of the base and the moveable clamp.
3. The hook as in claim 2, further comprising an additional prong upending from the generally horizontal base near the distal end of the base, the additional prong having a bottom end at the base, a top end above the base, a distal side, a proximal side, and first and second lateral sides;
wherein said moveable clamp further extends generally horizontally from said proximal connection, past said middle portion of the base, and along the first lateral side of the additional prong near the base, to a distal connection where the clamp detachably engages to the distal side of the additional prong near said bottom end of the additional prong.
4. The hook as in claim 3, wherein the distal side of the prong and the distal side of the additional prong each have a detent section near the base, wherein said moveable clamp distal portion comprises a transverse member extending transversely relative to the lateral sides of the base and detachably engaging said detent section of the prong and said detent section of said additional prong.
5. The hook as in claim 4, wherein the transverse member has a first end engaging the distal section of the prong and an opposing end engaging the distal section of the additional prong.
6. The hook as in claim 2, wherein said moveable clamp further extends generally horizontally from said proximal connection, past said middle portion of the base, and along the second lateral side of the prong near the base, to said distal connection, so that the moveable clamp extends around said prong.
7. The hook system of claim 6, wherein the moveable clamp comprises two longitudinal legs that are connected by a transverse member that engages a detent section in said distal side of the prong near said bottom end of the prong.
8. A hook system, adapted to hold a shoulder sling of a weapon on a user’s shoulder, comprising:
a backpack for being worn on a user’s shoulders and back, the backpack comprising two backpack shoulder straps for hanging the backpack on the user’s shoulders; and
a hook that comprises:
a generally horizontal base with a proximal end, middle portion, distal end, and a longitudinal axis and lateral sides extending between the proximal and distal ends, wherein said base further comprises a fastening strap that threads through the base and fastens in a loop around either of the backpack shoulder straps to secure the hook to said either of the backpack shoulder straps to hold the base generally horizontally on the backpack shoulder strap above the user’s shoulder; and,
a prong upending from the generally horizontal base near the distal end of the base, the prong having a bottom end at the base, a top end above the base, a distal side, a proximal side, and first and second lateral sides;
a moveable clamp of stretchable elastic material having a proximal portion and a distal portion, the proximal portion being secured to the base at a proximal connection near the proximal end of the base, and said moveable clamp extending generally horizontally, from said proximal connection, across said middle portion of the base, and along the first lateral side of the prong near the base, to a distal connection where the clamp detachably engages the distal side of the prong near said prong’s bottom end; and
the hook system further comprising:
a weapon having an elongated shoulder sling, the shoulder sling extending across the hook transversely to said longitudinal axis of the base, and extending out beyond said lateral sides of the base, so that shoulder sling is restrained from sliding off the shoulder of a wearer by being held by the hook secured to said either of the backpack shoulder straps.
9. The hook system of claim 8, wherein said shoulder sling extends across the middle region of the base between the base and the moveable clamp, so that the moveable clamp holds the shoulder sling on said middle region.
10. The hook system of claim 8, wherein said shoulder sling extends transversely across the hook above the middle region of the base and above the clamp.
11. The hook system as in claim 8, further comprising an additional prong upending from the generally horizontal base near the distal end of the base, the additional prong having a bottom end at the base, a top end above the base, a distal side, a proximal side, and first and second lateral sides, and
wherein said moveable clamp further extends generally horizontally, from said proximal connection, across said middle portion of the base, and along the first lateral side of the additional prong near the base, to a distal connection where the clamp detachably engages to the distal side of the additional prong near said bottom end of the additional prong.
12. The hook system as in claim 11, wherein the distal side of the prong and the distal side of the additional prong each have a detent section near the base, wherein said moveable clamp distal portion comprises a transverse member extending transversely relative to the lateral sides of the base and detachably engaging said detent section of the prong and said detent section of said additional prong.
13. The hook system as in claim 11, wherein the transverse member has a first end engaging the distal section of the prong and an opposing end engaging the distal section of the additional prong.
14. The hook system as in claim 8, wherein said moveable clamp further extends generally horizontally from said proximal connection, past said middle portion of the base, and along the second lateral side of prong near the base, to said distal connection, so that the moveable clamp extends around said prong.
15. The hook system of claim 14, wherein the moveable clamp comprises two longitudinal legs that are connected by a transverse member that engages a detent section in said distal side of the prong near said bottom end of the prong.
16. The hook system of claim 8, wherein in a first position said shoulder sling extends transversely across the middle region of the base between the base and the moveable clamp, so that the moveable clamp holds the shoulder sling on said middle region, and wherein in a second position said shoulder sling extends transversely across the hook above the middle region of the base and above the clamp so that the shoulder sling is held on the hook by the prong but not clamped down.