Standard planning for inmacranial aneurysm surgery relies on the surgeon's intellectual reconstruction of the three-dimensional (3D) surgical field on the basis of a two-dimensional (2D) imaging modality, biplanar cerebral angiography. T h i s method is relatively imprecise, and it relies on previous experience for optimal results. We describe a stereotactic magnetic resonance angiographic (MRA)-guided method based on computer segmentation techniques for the pIanning of aneurysm surgery that has the potential of bringing a 3D perspective to the lesion. The method has been evaluated retrospectively on 20 surgical patients in whom the aneurysm orientation and relationship to parent vessels were shown to match presurgical 3D stereotactic display. When it is adapted to fiameless interactive surgical navigation, this method may become a useful adjunct in the surgical obliteration of these life-threatening lesions. Comp Aid Surg 211-23 (1997) 81997 Wdey-Liss, Inc.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.