Portable structured-light 3D volumetry for breast and flap assessment: Technical validation and workflow development

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biotechnology
• Surgical Technology

Background:

• Accurate volumetry is crucial for breast reconstruction and reduction surgeries.
• Assessing surgical tissue volume intraoperatively presents challenges, including obscured anatomical landmarks like the inframammary fold.
• Portable structured light scanning (SLS) offers a potential solution for non-contact 3D volume measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish and validate a portable structured light volumetry workflow for breast-sized objects and surgical tissues.
• To identify practical acquisition strategies for challenges like inframammary fold occlusion and intraoperative tissue assessment.

Main Methods:

• Validation using phantoms (balloons) against calibrated volumes.
• Mannequin posture experiment comparing forward lean vs. supine acquisition using subtractive modeling method (SMM).
• Biologic tissue simulation (porcine/bovine) and intraoperative scanning of flaps and reduction blocks using Near and Far modes.

Main Results:

• Phantom validation showed high agreement (R² = 0.995) with minimal bias.
• Forward lean acquisition significantly reduced bias in mannequin models, especially when the inframammary fold was obscured.
• Far mode in SLS improved scan completeness and reduced time for biologic tissues and intraoperative specimens.

Conclusions:

• Portable structured light scanning provides accurate and repeatable volumetry.
• The study defines a practical workflow for breast and surgical tissue assessment.
• SLS is a viable tool for addressing clinical challenges in surgical volumetry.