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Automated Determination
of the Spine-Based Coordinate System
for an Efcient Cross-Sectional
Visualization of 3D Spine Images
Toma
Vrtovec
ΕΎ
Abstract The most common and straightforward visualization of three-dimensional
(3D) images of the spine and vertebrae, usually obtained by computed tomography
(CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques, is based on multi-planar
cross-sections that are positioned in the coordinate system of the 3D image. However,
such multi-planar cross-sections may not provide suf
cient or qualitative enough
diagnostic information, because they cannot follow the curvature of the spine. As a
result, not all of the important details can be shown simultaneously in any cross-
section. To overcome this problem, cross-sections have to be generated in the
coordinate system of the spine, which can be achieved by curved-planar 3D image
reformation that reduces the structural complexity in favor of an improved feature
perception of anatomical structures. The parameters for such cross-sectional image
reformation are determined from the spine-based coordinate system, which is de
ned
by the curve representing the vertebral column and by the rotation of vertebrae about
the spine curve. This chapter is focused on the techniques for automated determi-
nation of the spine-based coordinate system for an efficient cross-sectional visuali-
zation of 3D spine images, acquired by the CT and MR imaging techniques. The
reformatted cross-sections are diagnostically valuable, enable easier navigation,
manipulation and orientation in 3D space, and are useful for initializing segmentation
and other automated image analysis tasks.
1 Introduction
Medical images are of extreme importance for diagnosing and understanding of
normal and pathological conditions of the human body. To some extent, the quality of
image-assisted medical examinations depends on the acquisition of images, inter-
pretation of the information present in images achieved through proper visualization,
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