Preoperative planning for jugular‐foramen tumors: Preparation of a three‐dimensional surgical drawing

Abstract

The goal of the article shows a new technique to provide three‐dimensional (3D) atlas to be used for a preoperative planning for safe resection of jugular‐foramen tumor. A surgical‐planning drawing was created based on the test results to provide precise guidance to neurosurgeons. Using magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans of the head as guide images, we generated a 3D surgical atlas. We first read the MRI and CT data into Mimics 10.0 (Materialize, Leuven, Belgium) and matched the orientation of the imaging with the actual head position. Anatomical structures captured on the scans were segmented into target areas, and then reconstructed using segmentation and model‐building tools. All 3D models were imported into 3ds Max11.0 (Autodesk, Inc., The United States) to generate a surgical atlas. We used the 3D atlas for surgical simulation to identify the optimal surgical approach, and then prepared a surgical drawing for surgery. The atlas was created using scans of one patient. We generated a 3D digital atlas of anatomical structures of the jugular‐foramen region for visualization, manipulation, and interaction in a virtual 3D environment and prepared a surgical drawing for jugular‐foramen tumors. The 3D atlas contained MRI information. In 3D atlas, a mouse can be used to actively interact with the model by manipulating viewer orientation, changing model transparency, matching 2D image with 3D reconstructions, removing or adding structures sequentially to show complex anatomical pathways or relationships. The atlas could be subjected to surgical simulation. We create a 3D atlas and surgical planning drawing of a jugular foramen tumor. The 3D surgical‐planning atlas may provide precise guidance for surgical operations.