Software turns fuzzy x-rays, MRIs into coloured 3D pictures
By IANSThursday, February 3, 2011
LONDON - A special software called BodyViz converts fuzzy x-rays, MRIs and ultrasounds into full-colour 3D pictures.
Surgeons can visually slice away the layers to examine a patient’s anatomy and insert virtual instruments into the representation.
They can also adapt the images to suit their need such as using colour to enhance certain organs or view only harder tissues like bone and muscle.
Scott Rodenburg from BodyViz said the software is now available to doctors in the UK and they are talking to a number of potential clients.
The BodyViz software only costs 4,000 pounds as it uses existing technology and ordinary desktop computer, and an Xbox controller, the Daily Mail reports.
It was pioneered at Iowa State University and is already in use at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas.
Brian Butler, head of radiation oncology, Iowa State University, said: “The 3D images allow us to view inside the patient, something we’ve been unable to do outside of surgery - until now.”
“If a surgeon is performing a liver resection, we can simulate removing part of the patient’s liver, and with the push of a button determine how much of the remaining liver will be viable after the operation,” Butler said.
“If it’s 20 percent or greater, the procedure can be performed, if less, it cannot. This will take surgical planning to a whole new level.”
