Elsevier

Academic Radiology

Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2006, Pages 104-112
Academic Radiology

Computer assisted radiology & surgery
Computer-Based Anatomy: A Prerequisite for Computer-Assisted Radiology and Surgery1

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2005.08.034Get rights and content

Rationale and Objectives

The aim of the study is to show the possibilities opened up by three-dimensional (3D) computer-based models of the human body for education in anatomy, training of radiological and endoscopic examinations, and simulation of surgical procedures.

Materials and Methods

Based on 3D data sets obtained from the Visible Human and/or clinical cases, virtual body models are created that provide an integrated spatial and symbolic description of the anatomy by using interactive color/intensity–based segmentation, ray casting visualization with subvoxel resolution, a semantic network for knowledge modeling, and augmented QuickTime VR (Apple Computer, Inc, Cupertino, CA) movies for presentation.

Results

From these models, various radiological, endoscopic, or haptic manifestations of the body can be derived. This is shown with examples from anatomy teaching, correlation of x-ray images with 3D anatomy for education in radiology, gastrointestinal endoscopy, correlation of ultrasound images with 3D anatomy in endoscopic ultrasonography, and simulation of drilling in temporal bone surgery.

Conclusion

The presented models provide a means for realistic training in interpretation of radiological and endoscopic images of the human body. Furthermore, certain surgical procedures may be simulated realistically. Used as a complement to the current curriculum, these models have the potential to greatly decrease education times and costs.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

Building a comprehensive model of the human anatomy requires a spatial description consisting of 3D objects, which are displayed by using methods of volume visualization, and a linked symbolic description of relevant anatomic terms and their relations (3).

Building such an integrated model is a highly labor-intensive task, which is worthwhile only if the best data available are used. For general models, the highest resolution to date is provided by the Visible Human data set, which is used as

Results

Using the described methods, we created various spatial and symbolic models of different body parts. The most detailed ones to date represent the torso with the inner organs (7) and the upper limb (9), based on the Visible Human data set. For these, more than 1000 objects were segmented or modeled, and a semantic network with more than 3000 relations was generated by a team of computer scientists, physicians, and doctoral students. Preparation involved up to 10 people and required approximately

Discussion

In this report, we present various applications of 3D models of the human body for education and training in radiology and surgery. For these purposes, the model developed within our VOXEL-MAN project provides the following decisive advantages.

  • 1

    The developed scheme for anatomic and radiological modeling in terms of spatial and symbolic descriptions leads to an integrated knowledge base allowing exploration and interrogation of the model in a virtually unlimited number of ways.

  • 2

    Various

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Victor Spitzer and David Whitlock (University of Colorado) and Michael Ackerman (National Library of Medicine) for providing the Visible Human data set. The basics of the VOXEL-MAN framework were developed together with Martin Riemer, Thomas Schiemann (now with the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany), and Rainer Schubert (now with the University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Innsbruck, Austria). The EUS project was developed in

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    The knowledge modeling and surgical simulator projects were supported by grants no. Ho-899/4-1 and Ho-899/5-1 from the German Research Council, respectively. Presented in part at the International Congress on Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, Chicago, IL, June 23-26, 2004.

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