Clinical Assessment Software Tools for 3D Surface Anatomy Imaging
The emergence of 3D surface imaging technologies over the past decade has opened up the possibility of exciting new applications in clinical assessment. 3D images contain metric information that has the potential to assist clinicians in making important judgements on a more quantitative, as opposed to subjective, basis. For example, to decide whether or not to perform surgery and what type of procedure to apply, and to assess the quality of the outcome after surgical intervention. However, current clinical assessment software packages for 3D medical image data have been designed specifically for 3D volumetric data from CT or MRI scanners and are inappropriate for use with 3D surface anatomy data.The Departments of Computing Science and Statistics at the University of Glasgow, in collaboration with clinicians at two Glasgow Hospitals, have been engaged upon a programme of research to investigate the potential use of 3D surface imaging techniques to standardise analysis of facial clefts and assess the changes following surgical repair. As part of this work, the research team have developed practical clinical assessment tools that utilise 3D images of the surface anatomy of a patient, thereby allowing the clinician to make quantitative 3D surface measurements and comparisons of surface anatomy in 3D.
Key Benefits
- Provides true 3-dimensional analysis of 3D surface anatomy, not simply computerised measurement of 3D landmarks
- Incorporates advanced statistics to give a better understanding of the degree of abnormality and putative remedial action
- Enables clinicians to determine quantitatively the degree of improvement or deterioration exhibited by a particular surface anatomy structure over time
- Ability to combine the latest 3D surface anatomy imaging techniques with conventional 3D volumetric data analysis to link both types of 3D morphological assessment.
Applications
- The clinical focus of the research undertaken so far has been on craniofacial assessment and breast reconstruction/screening. An obvious follow-on application area would be maxillofacial assessment, however, the underlying technology is applicable to all areas of the body and would be of benefit in the following applications:-
- Surgical Simulation
- Prosthetics and Orthotics
- Orthopaedics
- Anthropometry and Human Factors
- Computer-Guided Surgery
- 3D Medical Telepresence
IP Status
As part of our research into the potential use of 3D surface imaging techniques to standardise analysis of facial clefts and assess changes following surgical repair, new algorithms have been developed to make quantitative 3D surface measurements and comparisons of surface anatomy in 3D. Algorithms have also been devised to support statistical analysis of the true 3D shape of the imaged anatomy. The software realisation of these algorithms is subject to copyright protection. There may also be an opportunity to apply for patent protection on certain aspects of this research, however, no patents have yet been filed.
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