The calculation of intracranial volume using CT scans

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Neuroscience
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Accurate measurement of intracranial volume is crucial for diagnosing and managing various neurological conditions.
• Traditional methods for determining intracranial volume can be invasive or imprecise.
• Computerized tomography (CT) offers detailed anatomical visualization but requires robust analytical techniques for volumetric quantification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present and validate a novel method for calculating intracranial volume from horizontal CT scan slices.
• To assess the accuracy of this CT-based technique by comparing it with direct water displacement measurements in dry skulls.
• To establish the utility of this method for clinical applications, particularly in pediatric neurosurgery.

Main Methods:

• A novel algorithm was developed to process horizontal CT slices and compute the intracranial volume.
• The method was validated using 10 dry human skulls.
• True intracranial volumes were determined by filling the skulls with water, serving as the gold standard for comparison.

Main Results:

• The CT-based method yielded intracranial volume measurements ranging from 98.14% to 102.6% of the true volumes.
• The mean error of the technique was found to be a low 1.13%.
• These results demonstrate high accuracy and reliability of the presented method.

Conclusions:

• The developed CT-based method provides an accurate and reliable means of calculating intracranial volume.
• This technique is suitable for clinical use, offering a non-invasive approach to volumetric assessment.
• The method is currently being applied to investigate intracranial volume changes in children diagnosed with craniostenosis.