Article
The role of 3-D-visualization of radiological data in neck surgery
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Published: | September 7, 2006 |
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Introduction: In neck surgery there is plenty of different radiological data. At present there is no information as to whether there is an advantage in 3-D-visualization of CT or MRI scans for preoperative planning. In addition, the techniques of visualization are numerous and not sufficiently evaluated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate these different techniques considering objective and subjective criteria.
Methods: The CT scans of five patients suffering from PEC of the Oro-Hypopharynx were reconstructed 3-dimensionally. The data were depicted using different techniques of visualization (Smooth vs sharp edges, movies vs pictures, natural vs unnatural colours, transparency vs no transparency etc.). 15 ENT surgeons were divided into two groups (junior and senior surgeons) and confronted with a questionaire. Subject of this protocol were the number of correctly diagnosed enlarged lymph nodules, the amount of infiltration of the surrounding tissue and the general impression when watching the pictures.
Results: The participating ENT surgeons preferred movies with smooth edges and natural colours. Transparency of bone and the sole depiction of a few important anatomical structures was considered useful. The effect on the quality of preoperative planning will be the subject of further statistical analyses.
Discussion: The results of this study do not demonstrate a clear advantage in using 3-D-visualization instead of the CT scan as the standard procedure for preoperative planning in neck surgery. However, the pictures could not be watched interactively, which might make planning easier. Considering the ongoing technical progress in this field, e. g. the increasing resolution of images, further investigation on this topic seems to be promising.