Evaluation of Head Three-dimensional MRI Using the Volume Rendering Method : Operative Simulation of Brain Tumors

Abstract

In this study, we established imaging, construction, and presentation methods for three-dimensional images for surgical simulation of cerebral tumors. Three-dimensional images were produced from head volume data obtained using an MR instrument, and the usefulness of three-dimensional images for surgical simulation was examined. Using the function of three-dimensional image processing in an independent-type diagnostic workstation(Advantage Windows, GE Inc.), three-dimensional images for surgical simulation of several patients with cerebral tumors were produced by the volume-rendering method. The quality of the three-dimensional images of the head obtained by this method was high, indicating the usefulness of three-dimensional images for surgical simulation of cerebral tumors. However, since manual treatment was still required for segmentation, several problems such as long image treatment time remained.