Artikel
Restoring 3D MR angiography images based on template driven anisotropic geometric diffusion – a promising tool in vascular neurosurgery?
Nachbearbeitung von 3D-MR-Angiographien mittels anisotroper geometrischer Diffusion – ein viel versprechendes Verfahren in der vaskulären Neurochirurgie?
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Veröffentlicht: | 11. April 2007 |
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Gliederung
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Objective: The management of neurovascular disease requires precise information on the anatomy of the cerebral vasculature. Due to its high spatial image resolution, digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is still considered the gold standard against which other imaging modalities have to be measured to assess their capacity for visualizing intracranial vascular lesions. To improve the quality of 3D reconstructed MRA-images, we propose a novel concept in 3D-image analysis for the cerebral arterial vessels.
Methods: Five patients, harboring at least one cerebral aneurysm, underwent standard DSA, CTA and MRA. MRA data were further processed by using an anisotropic version of so called Mean Curvature Flow. The concept is based on template driven anisotropic geometric diffusion for subsequent segmentation of blood vessels from MRA-images. The resulting algorithm is able to smooth the vessels. 3D reconstructions of conventional CTA and MRA data sets were used for comparison.
Results: The template driven 3D-reconstructed images of the cerebral arterial system accurately displayed all aneurysms, which had beeen detected by DSA. The 3D-anatomy of the circle of Willis was visualized reliably in all cases. The smoothened vessel surfaces enhanced the readibility of the images, when compared with conventional CTA- and MRA-reconstructions. Depending on parameter regulation, small (xy mm) orthogonal vascular junctions may be missed, thus necessitating parameter adjustment via user interface.
Conclusions: This new approach is considered a promising tool for the planning of neurovascular treatment. It may also improve preoperative evaluation and intraoperative validation of aneurysmal architecture.