Visualization and Assessment

MRI and CT scans are currently the diagnostic basis for most complex surgeries. At BMI we use these same MRI and CT data to produce highly accurate, three-dimensional, life-sized solid models.

Biomodels are powerful tools for visualizing human anatomy. Biomodels are superior to software renderings used by surgeons on computers for several reasons:

• Human vision is stereographic. Computer displays require the viewer's imagination to infer the actual three-dimensional shape up from clues provided by calculated shadings of a two-dimensional view. While an anatomically trained mind is excellent at correctly imagining the shape of normal structures from such two-dimensional views, this may not be the case for pathological or abnormal anatomy.
• There is more to visualization than meets the eye. A surgeon's understanding of anatomy is largely tactile: it is developed through the experience of physically handling organs and tissues. The combined visual and tactile input from examining a Biomodel gives a much deeper and more intuitive understanding of the patient's condition than viewing a computer screen.

Where precise measurements are required, these can often be performed better on the biomodel than on raw scan data. The spatial resolution of the biomodel fabrication process is higher than that of the best clinical CT or MRI scanners. Cubic interpolation is used to reduce noise and stair-stepping from scan data.

Leading surgeons who employ biomodels as assessment and communication tools find them to be invaluable aids, increasing knowledge and confidence.