Three-dimensional surgery simulation system

• US 20040043368A1
• Filed: 03/04/2003
• Published: 03/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ossim Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: Taipei Medical University WAN Fan Hospital (Government of The Republic of China)
• Inventors: Tsai, Ming-Dar, Hsieh, Ming-Shium
• Granted Patent: US 7,121,832 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/262
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 23/28 for medicine

Abstract

A three-dimensional surgery simulation system is provided for generating a three-dimensional surgery simulation result of an anatomical part undergoing a simulated surgical procedure. The system includes a display unit, a three-dimensional visual imaging unit, a storage unit for storing a plurality of voxelized three-dimensional model image data sets, an input unit for controlling progress of the simulated surgical procedure, and a computing unit for computing the simulation result data in accordance with the voxelized three-dimensional model image data sets and under the control of the input unit, and for controlling the display unit to permit viewing of the surgery simulation result in three-dimensional form thereon by an operator wearing the visual imaging unit.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional surgery simulation system for generating a three-dimensional surgery simulation result of an anatomical part undergoing a simulated surgical procedure, comprising:

a display unit;

a three-dimensional visual imaging unit adapted to be worn by an operator for viewing three-dimensional images on said display unit;

a storage unit for storing a plurality of voxelized three-dimensional model image data sets, including at least one of a pre-operation anatomical data set, a surgical instrument data set, an implant data set, and a simulation result data set;

an input unit adapted to be operated by the operator for controlling progress of the simulated surgical procedure; and

a computing unit coupled to said display unit, said storage unit and said input unit, said computing unit computing the simulation result data in accordance with said voxelized three-dimensional model image data sets and under the control of said input unit, and controlling said display unit to permit viewing of the surgery simulation result in three-dimensional form thereon by the operator when the operator wears said visual imaging unit;

wherein, when said computing unit detects the surgery simulation result to have a first boundary face with a discontinuous edge that is common to at least a second boundary face, said computing unit processes the first and second boundary faces as a common closed surface, and assigns two voxels sharing the common closed surface as seeds for seed-and-flood algorithm computations during surface voxelization in the generation of the simulation result data.

2. The three-dimensional surgery simulation system of claim 1, wherein said computing unit is configured to record the first and second boundary faces and any discontinuous edge therein in corresponding node lists,

said computing unit merging the node lists for the first and second boundary faces to create a new node list when said computing unit detects a common edge relationship between the discontinuous edge of the first boundary face and the second boundary face,

said computing unit being further configured to determine continuity of the boundary faces in the surgery simulation result in accordance with a new boundary face contained in the new node list.

3. The three-dimensional surgery simulation system of claim 2, wherein said computing unit designates the new boundary face as a continuous face when edges of the new boundary face are determined by said computing unit to be continuous.