Assessment of organ volume with different techniques using a living liver model

The purpose of this study was to compare different techniques for the estimation of liver volume, and to evaluate errors associated with volume estimation techniques based on linear measurements. Fifteen patients with focal liver lesion underwent spiral CTA for preoperative evaluation. The scan protocol was: collimation 3 mm; rotation time 0.75 s; pitch 2; and reconstruction index 1 mm. Reconstructed images were sent to a workstation running on a NT platform equipped with post-processing software allowing 3D reconstructions. Linear measurements and volume estimation through manual segmentation were obtained with preset window and magnification. Volume was calculated from linear measures using different equations. With equations based on linear measurements the right lobe was overestimated (mean=+53%; mean error=14.7%), the second and third segments were underestimated (mean=-47%; mean error=43.3%) and the total volume was underestimated (mean=-86%; mean error=36%). The volume calculated by summing the areas of all the sections and multiplying the result by the increment was not significantly different from the volume estimated using the manual volumetric segmentation technique. Volume estimation obtained through linear measurements is not reliable to appraise the volume of irregular-shaped solids, even assuming the prevalence of a particular morphology.