Computer-assisted geometric design of cerebral aneurysms for surgical simulation

This report presents conceptual aspects and the clinical implications of a computer-assisted geometric design of a cerebral aneurysm and surrounding structures. The technique is based on the approximation power of the parametric spline function, which achieves interpolation and surface fitting of the arterial information obtained by conventional angiography. Computer graphic transformations including shifting, scaling, rotation, and putting different colors in different intensities make it possible to obtain the surgical simulation of a cerebral aneurysm. To our knowledge, this is the first report in which the computer graphic simulation of the surgical view of a cerebral aneurysm is made with a personal computer. Using our method, it may be possible to obtain the surgical simulation of a more complicated view by introducing a navigation system of a new style for conventional open neurosurgery. Concepts and the technical details of the method are described.