3D Reconstructions from Radiology Studies
New technology has motivated hospitals and imaging centers to record their radiological studies onto digital media such as CD-ROMS. These CD-ROMS contain scans of the original X-rays, CT's, MRI's, and other radiological studies along with the radiological reports associated with those studies. At AMICUS Visual Solutions we are able to take the radiological data from the CD-ROMS and create 3-dimensional images that are 100% accurate to the patient's condition. We can then slice the images through certain planes to expose the areas of most concern, and we can colorize the images to help visualize the area of injury. Animating the final product so that it turns in space adds a feel of "depth" to the 3D images and allows the viewer to view the images from multiple angles.
We are able to create these 3D images from most DICOM radiology file formats. As a rule of thumb, the quality of the final product will not be any better quality than the original radiology images, so if the radiology department created poor images or if the radiology images do not show the injuries well, then our 3D projections of those images will suffer the same shortcomings.
The process of creating the colorized 3 dimensional images is tricky. The radiology films contain pixels of varying grey colors and we try to segregate them out into collective groups of similar intensities. The theory is that each group of similar grey pixels relates to a group of similar tissue.
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Once we have the groups of greys separated, then we apply color tints to each grey group to give it a color that helps it to stand out among all the other greys or tissue groups. The difficulty comes when several tissue groups have grey colors that are nearly identical. It is very difficult to separate these similar tissue groups, and the results may not be ideal.
The cost for these animated exhibits is dependent on the quality of the original radiology films, but it is quite affordable since there are no custom illustration fees and the images do not require complex 3D modeling. Other companies may provide refined 3D models which are based on the radiology data, but we believe that the unadultered data is more accurate, more interesting to view, and more inexpensive.
Virtual Reality
We can also take the 3D reconstructions of the radiology studies and save them out in a file format that allows the viewer to click and drag the image, rotating it into any position he wishes. Sometimes it is tricky to maneuver the models with the cursor, so it may be better to have a pre-made animation which rotates the 3D images according to a predetermined sequence.
We have programmers on staff that can work with you to customize the 3D reconstructions to suit your needs. Contact us for cost estimates and further details.
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