Methodology & system for mapping a virtual human body

Abstract

Described herein are embodiments of a system for presenting a computer-generated, three-dimensional visualization of anatomy. In some embodiments, the system may enable adjustments to be made to a base anatomical visualization to enable an adjusted visualization to be generated and output by the computing device. In some such embodiments, a specification of such an adjustment may include an identification of one or more anatomical features to which the adjustment corresponds and which are to be visualized with the adjustment. The visualization may correspond, for example, to a medical condition to be visualized. The medical condition may be mapped to one or more data objects of a visualization and the visualization may be adjusted based on the specification. For example, geometric information on anatomical feature may be adjusted to specify a different geometry, to indicate an impact of the medical condition on the anatomical feature.

1 . A method of operating a computing system to generate computer-readable data representing a three-dimensional visualization of at least a portion of anatomy of a human body, the method comprising:
 receiving, at the at least one computing device, a specification of an adjustment to be made to a base three-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body, wherein the specification of the adjustment comprises an identification of the adjustment to make and an indication of at least one anatomical feature of the human body to which the adjustment relates;   mapping, with at least one processor of the at least one computing device, the indication of the at least one anatomical feature of the human body to at least one object of a hierarchy of objects, wherein each object of the hierarchy of objects corresponds to one or more anatomical features of the human body and to one or more elements of the base three-dimensional visualization; and   generating, with at least one processor of the at least one first computing device, an adjusted three-dimensional visualization of the at least the part of the anatomy of the human body by adjusting the one or more elements of the base three-dimensional visualization based at least in part on the adjustment, wherein the one or more portions of the base three-dimensional visualization that are adjusted correspond to the one or more objects that were mapped to the at least one anatomical feature indicated by the specification of the adjustment, and wherein the adjusted three-dimensional visualization includes the adjustment at the one or more portions that correspond to the one or more objects.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein: the at least one computing device is configured to receive the specification comprising the indication of the at least one anatomical feature in a plurality of formats; and the mapping comprises mapping from a format, of the plurality of formats, in which the indication of the at least one anatomical feature is specified to the hierarchy of objects. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein: the mapping comprises selecting a manner in which to perform the translation based on a format of the indication of the at least one anatomical feature. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 receiving the specification comprising the indication of the at least one anatomical feature comprises receiving a specification comprising an identifier for the at least one anatomical feature in a medical ontology; and   mapping the indication to the one or more objects comprises mapping the identifier in the medical ontology to the one or more objects.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein receiving the specification comprising the identifier for the at least one anatomical feature in the medical ontology comprises receiving an alphanumeric identifier in a medical ontology. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein:
 receiving the specification comprising the identification of the adjustment to make and the identifier for the at least one anatomical feature in the medical ontology comprises receiving a code in the medical ontology for a medical condition that affects one or more particular anatomical features; and   mapping the indication to the one or more objects comprises identifying the one or more particular anatomical features from the code in the medical ontology.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 receiving the specification comprising the indication of the at least one anatomical feature comprises receiving a specification comprising an identifier for an anatomical system of the human body, the anatomical system comprising the at least one anatomical feature; and   mapping the indication to the one or more objects comprises mapping the identifier for the anatomical system to the one or more objects that correspond to the at least one anatomical feature based on the identifier for the anatomical system.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the hierarchy of objects comprises a first node for the anatomical system and at least one second node, associated with the first node in the hierarchy and below the first node in the hierarchy, associated with the at least one anatomical feature, the at least one second node being the one or more objects; and   mapping the identifier to the one or more objects comprises mapping the identifier to the first node.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 receiving the specification comprising the indication of the at least one anatomical feature comprises receiving a specification comprising an identifier for a portion of an organ of the human body; and   mapping the indication to the one or more objects comprises mapping the identifier for the portion to the one or more objects that correspond to the at least one anatomical feature.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 receiving the specification comprising the indication of the at least one anatomical feature comprises receiving a specification comprising an identifier for a portion of an organ of the human body; and   mapping the indication to the one or more objects comprises mapping the identifier for the portion to the one or more objects that correspond to the portion of the organ.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 receiving the specification comprising the indication of the at least one anatomical feature comprises receiving a specification comprising a coordinate in a coordinate system of a display of a visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy; and   mapping the indication to the one or more objects comprises identifying the at least one anatomical feature at least in part by determining an anatomical feature that corresponds to content of the visualization displayed at the coordinate.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the coordinate of the coordinate system is a three-dimensional coordinate of a three-dimensional coordinate system. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 receiving the specification of the adjustment to make comprises receiving a specification of a medical condition to visualize in the adjusted three-dimensional visualization and an identification of one or more anatomical features affected by the medical condition; and   generating the adjusted three-dimensional visualization comprises generating a three-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body with the medical condition.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein generating the three-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body with the medical condition comprises generating a three-dimensional visualization with the one or more portions that relate to the one or more anatomical features affected by the medical condition having at least one geometric modification as compared to the base three-dimensional visualization. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the indication of the at least one anatomical feature indicates at least one organ affected by the medical condition and to be visualized with the medical condition;   the method further comprises retrieving data indicating how to visualize an effect of the medical condition on the at least one organ, wherein retrieving the data comprises retrieving from a data set of geometric modifications to be made to visualize each of a plurality of medical conditions, and where retrieving the data comprises retrieving the data based on the medical condition; and   generating the three-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of the human body with the medical condition comprises making at least one geometric modification to at least one geometric dimension of at least one model of the at least one organ in the base three-dimensional visualization based at least in part on the data.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein:
 generating the adjusted three-dimensional visualization from the base three-dimensional visualization comprises generating an animated three-dimensional visualization;   the base three-dimensional visualization comprises information indicating a normal movement of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body; and   making the at least one geometric modification comprises making at least one geometric modification to at least one geometric dimension of the base three-dimensional visualization that affects an animation of the adjusted three-dimensional visualization to reflect an abnormal movement of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body due to the medical condition.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the base three-dimensional visualization comprises information indicating a normal appearance of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body; and   making the at least one geometric modification comprises making at least one change to at least one geometric dimension of the base three-dimensional visualization to affect an appearance of the adjusted three-dimensional visualization to reflect an abnormal appearance of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body due to the medical condition.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the specification of the adjustment is a first specification of a first adjustment to make, the indication of the at least one anatomical feature is a first indication of at least one first anatomical feature, and the medical condition is a first medical condition;   the method further comprises receiving, at the at least one first computing device, a second specification of a second adjustment to make to the base three-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body, wherein the second specification of the second adjustment comprises an identification of a second medical condition to visualize and a second indication of at least one anatomical feature of the human body to visualize with the second medical condition; and   generating the adjusted three-dimensional visualization further comprises generating a three-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body with the second medical condition.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the first indication for the first adjustment identifies a human organ to be visualized with the first medical condition, the human organ being included in the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body;   the second indication for the second adjustment identifies that that second medical condition applies to an entirety of a human body;   generating the adjusted three-dimensional visualization comprises making at least one first geometric modification to the at least the portion of the anatomy in the base three-dimensional visualization to effect a visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy with the first medical condition and making at least one second geometric modification to the at least the portion of the anatomy in the base three-dimensional visualization to effect a visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy with the second medical condition.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the first indication for the first adjustment identifies a human organ to be visualized with the first medical condition, the human organ being included in the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body;   the second indication for the second adjustment identifies that that second medical condition applies to an entirety of a human body;   generating the adjusted three-dimensional visualization comprises making at least one first geometric modification to the at least the portion of the anatomy in the base three-dimensional visualization to effect a visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy with the first medical condition and retrieving a three-dimensional visualization of a human body with the second medical condition to serve as the base three-dimensional visualization.   
     
     
         21 - 32 . (canceled)