Stereoscopic visualization and editing of automatic abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) measurements for stent graft planning

For stent graft selection in the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) anatomic considerations are important. They determine GO/NO-GO of the treatment and help customize the stent. Current systems for AAA stent insertion planning based on pre-operative CT and MR of the patient do not provide an intuitive interface to view the resulting measurements against the pre-operative CT/MR. Subsequent modifications of the measurements are frequent when automatic algorithms are inaccurate. However, 3D editing is difficult to achieve because of the limitations of monoscopic displays and 2D interface. In this paper, we present a system for automatic AAA measurement and interactive 3D editing. The strength of this approach is that the resulting measurements can be reviewed and edited interactively in the 3D context of the volumetric rendering of the aorta, so that relationships of the measurements and the aorta are clearly perceived. This understanding is facilitated by the stereoscopic rendering that makes it possible to see the transparent vessel and its corresponding measurements all in one image.