Three dimensional reconstruction of computed tomographic images by computer graphics method

A three dimensional computer reconstruction system for CT images has been developed in a commonly used radionuclide data processing system using a computer graphics technique. The three dimensional model was constructed from organ surface information of CT images (slice thickness: 5 or 10 mm). Surface contours of the organs were extracted manually from a set of parallel transverse CT slices in serial order and stored in the computer memory. Interpolation was made between a set of the extracted contours by cubic spline functions, then three dimensional models were reconstructed. The three dimensional images were displayed as a wire-frame and/or solid models on the color CRT. Solid model images were obtained as follows. The organ surface constructed from contours was divided into many triangular patches. The intensity of light to each patch was calculated from the direction of incident light, eye position and the normal to the triangular patch. Firstly, this system was applied to the liver phantom. Reconstructed images of the liver phantom were coincident with the actual object. This system also has been applied to human various organs such as brain, lung, liver, etc. The anatomical organ surface was realistically viewed from any direction. The images made us more easily understand the location and configuration of organs in vivo than original CT images. Furthermore, spacial relationship among organs and/or lesions was clearly obtained by superimposition of wire-frame and/or different colored solid models. Therefore, it is expected that this system is clinically useful for evaluating the patho-morphological changes in broad perspective. (author)