PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to visually recognize a structure properly according to the distance between the viewpoint position of a virtual endoscope and the structure.SOLUTION: A structure extraction part 24 extracts a structure from a three-dimensional medical image M, and a viewpoint determination part 26 determines a viewpoint position and a line-of-sight direction of a virtual endoscopic image. An image generation part 27 calculates the distance between the viewpoint position P1 and the extracted structure, changes the opacity defined in a color template according to the distance, and generates, from the three-dimensional medical image M, a virtual endoscopic image of the viewpoint position P1 and the line-of-sight direction V1, and including the structure represented by the color template with the opacity changed. A display control part 28 displays the virtual endoscopic image G0 on a WS display 10.COPYRIGHT: (C)2014,JPO&INPIT
