Cuts in organs with Internal structures

Abstract

Current simulations in virtual surgery use three-dimensional representations of organs without any internal structure. For some applications, however, there is a need to represent also the organs internal anatomical structures, such as blood vessels. We present, in this paper, a technique that allows arbitrarily oriented cuts through objects, particularly anatomical structures, reconstructing the mesh surface in the cutting zone. In the process, all internal structures participate in the final rendering of the generated surface. As a case study, we selected a human liver model with vessels and present the internal visualization of the liver in real time for arbitrary cutting planes. Our work has applications, for instance, in improving current state-of-the-art surgery simulators for training of students and medical doctors. Simulations present many advantages over other training since they reduce time and cost spent by professionals, offering less risk to the patients. Besides, studies show that the amount of realism seen in the simulators is positively correlated to the engaging of students in learning.