Surgical navigation systems have been used increasingly in guiding complex ear, nose, and throat ... more Surgical navigation systems have been used increasingly in guiding complex ear, nose, and throat surgery. Although these are helpful, they are only beneficial intraoperatively; thus, the novice surgeon will not have the preoperative training or exposure that can be vital in complex procedures. In addition, there is a lack of reliable models to give surgeons hands-on training in performing such procedures. A technique using an industrial rapid prototyping process by three-dimensional (3D) printing was developed, from which accurate spatial models of the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses (sphenoid sinus in particular), and intrasellar/pituitary pathology were produced, according to the parameters of an individual patient. Image-guided surgical (IGS) techniques on two different platforms were used during endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery to test and validate the anatomical accuracy of the sinus models by comparing the models with radiological images of the patient on IGS. It was possible to register, validate, and navigate accurately on these models using commonly available navigation stations, matching accurately the anatomy of the model to the IGS images. These 3D models can be reliably used for teaching/training and preoperative planning purposes.
ABSTRACT The article describes and presents the process of developing and constructing a virtual ... more ABSTRACT The article describes and presents the process of developing and constructing a virtual and physical three dimensional biomodel of the sphenoid sinus and nasal structures. A patient with a tumour located in the sphenoidal air sinus was identified for this study. Fine slice Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) were performed. These imaging data were then fused by correlating matching anatomical bony landmarks. The resultant fused image series were then used to elucidate the sinuses and the tumour using a drawing tablet. The results were then post-processed with image processing algorithms namely Segmentation and Marching Cube, to generate a three dimensional (3D) construct. This virtual biomodel was then subjected to water-tight and hole-closing algorithms to pre-form a solid structure which can be printed on a powder rapid-prototyping (RP) apparatus. The final physical biomodel was then assessed at a few structural landmarks as a means of a simple validation. The validation of this model has been published elsewhere and supports the feasibility of the methods outlined in this paper. Further validation and ongoing work to reproduce biomodels of patients with similar tumour are currently underway in order to further substantiate the method described here.
Surgical navigation systems have been used increasingly in guiding complex ear, nose, and throat ... more Surgical navigation systems have been used increasingly in guiding complex ear, nose, and throat surgery. Although these are helpful, they are only beneficial intraoperatively; thus, the novice surgeon will not have the preoperative training or exposure that can be vital in complex procedures. In addition, there is a lack of reliable models to give surgeons hands-on training in performing such procedures. A technique using an industrial rapid prototyping process by three-dimensional (3D) printing was developed, from which accurate spatial models of the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses (sphenoid sinus in particular), and intrasellar/pituitary pathology were produced, according to the parameters of an individual patient. Image-guided surgical (IGS) techniques on two different platforms were used during endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery to test and validate the anatomical accuracy of the sinus models by comparing the models with radiological images of the patient on IGS. It was possible to register, validate, and navigate accurately on these models using commonly available navigation stations, matching accurately the anatomy of the model to the IGS images. These 3D models can be reliably used for teaching/training and preoperative planning purposes.
ABSTRACT The article describes and presents the process of developing and constructing a virtual ... more ABSTRACT The article describes and presents the process of developing and constructing a virtual and physical three dimensional biomodel of the sphenoid sinus and nasal structures. A patient with a tumour located in the sphenoidal air sinus was identified for this study. Fine slice Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) were performed. These imaging data were then fused by correlating matching anatomical bony landmarks. The resultant fused image series were then used to elucidate the sinuses and the tumour using a drawing tablet. The results were then post-processed with image processing algorithms namely Segmentation and Marching Cube, to generate a three dimensional (3D) construct. This virtual biomodel was then subjected to water-tight and hole-closing algorithms to pre-form a solid structure which can be printed on a powder rapid-prototyping (RP) apparatus. The final physical biomodel was then assessed at a few structural landmarks as a means of a simple validation. The validation of this model has been published elsewhere and supports the feasibility of the methods outlined in this paper. Further validation and ongoing work to reproduce biomodels of patients with similar tumour are currently underway in order to further substantiate the method described here.
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Papers by Roshni Menon