Three-dimensional computed imaging using a personal computer for nasal surgery.

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3-D) computed imaging was applied before surgery in 16 patients with nasal or paranasal disease. The images obtained by computed tomography (CT) were scanned by a personal computer. The contours of the organs were outlined on the scanned images, and the images were then reconstructed using 3-D imaging software. The resulting 3-D images were evaluated and compared with actual surgical images. The 3-D images were found to be useful for surgical procedures, because they facilitated recognition of the topologic relation between structure and lesion. Although this method requires a personal computer and an image scanner, it is cheaper than, and in some respects even superior to, a 3-D CT system.