3D Patient Model Visualization for Precise Lesion Localization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current two-dimensional visualization methods using MRI images for surgical planning are inadequate for precise localization of lesions, leading to excessive tissue removal during ablation procedures, as they fail to provide a clear understanding of lesion volumes and spatial relationships.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method for displaying a 3D model of a patient's portion, where each voxel is associated with a corresponding pixel from cross-sectional images, allowing interactive navigation and simultaneous display of 3D and 2D images, enabling better lesion localization and tissue preservation during surgery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If two-dimensional cross-sectional images are used for visualization, then the visualization method is simple and widely accessible, but the understanding of lesion volumes and precise localization is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms two-dimensional cross-sectional images into a three-dimensional model that preserves the original image planes. This dimensional enhancement allows surgeons to visualize lesion volumes and spatial relationships in 3D while maintaining the familiar 2D cross-sectional reference frames, thereby improving localization precision without losing the simplicity of standard imaging approaches
2Measurement precision
If three-dimensional models are created with predefined tissular boundaries, then the visualization provides better volumetric understanding, but the computational complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of creating complex predefined tissular boundaries, the patent segments the volumetric data by preserving and displaying multiple standard cross-sectional image planes (axial, coronal, sagittal) within the 3D model. Each plane represents a segmentation of the volume that can be independently visualized and referenced, providing volumetric understanding without requiring complex boundary definition algorithms
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates simplified representations by copying and displaying the original cross-sectional images in their native coordinate planes within the 3D visualization. Rather than computing new boundary surfaces, it copies the existing diagnostic images and organizes them spatially to convey volumetric information, significantly reducing computational complexity
3Ease of operation
If standard two-dimensional cross-sectional images are displayed, then radiologists and surgeons are familiar with the images, but collaboration between different health professionals is hindered by different visualization needs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a multi-functional visualization system that simultaneously serves both radiologists and surgeons. It displays familiar two-dimensional cross-sectional images in their standard orientations for radiological assessment, while also providing three-dimensional spatial context for surgical planning. This universal visualization approach accommodates the different needs of both professions within a single integrated system
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method for displaying a 3D model of a patient in a 3D scene, each voxel of the displayed 3D model being associated to a respective pixel of at least one corresponding cross-sectional image of the patient, the 3D scene further including a cursor and at least one display window. The method includes the steps of: computing a current position of the cursor in a scene coordinate system of the 3D scene based on a current position of a user point in user coordinate system; and for each active display window of the at least one display window, displaying a displayed image based on the cross-sectional image, which includes a pixel associated to the voxel that is the closest to the computed current position of the cursor and which has a corresponding image cross-section plane that matches a window cross-section plane of the active display window.