Three-dimensional orbital wall modeling using paranasal sinus segmentation.

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Computational Anatomy
• Surgical Planning

Background:

• Three-dimensional orbital wall modeling is crucial for surgical planning but is often hindered by pseudoforamina, leading to time-consuming manual segmentation.
• Accurate characterization of orbital walls is essential for reconstructive surgery, especially in cases of orbital fractures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate automated three-dimensional (3D) orbital wall modeling software for characterizing orbital walls.
• To assess the software's efficiency and accuracy using patient data with orbital fractures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized multiphase segmentation to characterize air and face regions, followed by morphological operations for sinus segmentation.
• Segmented sinuses were used to offset pseudoforamina in the orbital wall.
• Reconstructed a 3D facial bone model, including the orbital wall, from segmented images.

Main Results:

• The automated method processed computed tomography (CT) data in 31.7 ± 8.0 seconds, 30-60 times faster than existing methods.
• Surface distances to manual segmentation were 0.20 ± 0.06 mm (normal side) and 0.28 ± 0.10 mm (fractured side), approximately half those of the active contour model.
• Generated 3D orbital wall models comparable to manual segmentation within one minute, irrespective of fracture presence.

Conclusions:

• The developed software rapidly generates accurate 3D orbital wall models, significantly improving upon traditional methods.
• This automated approach has the potential to enhance the safety and precision of surgical interventions for orbital fractures.