3-D computer images will help plastic surgeons
improve reconstructive surgery techniques
writes Margaret E Ward
(Irish Times; 09/07/98)
Two vertical stripes of bright, white light scan across a young boy's face
in the darkened room. The reflected light is recorded by a rotating camera
hovering three feet above the subject.
The scene is not the latest twist in the X-Files or Star Trek: The Next
Generation. It's part of a research project involving the computer science
department at NUI Maynooth and the Children's Hospital, Temple Street,
Dublin.
The 3-D Shape Measurement and Analysis Project creates three-dimensional
records of reconstructive facial surgery. These before and after images
allow assessment of surgical procedures by viewing the precise
measurements, contours and colour variations of a patient's face.
Since many of these operations involve congenital defects, such as
hare-lip, they take place when patients are children. Therefore, longterm
assessment of facial bone and tissue growth is essential for predicting
successful surgical methods.
"The ability to automatically and objectively collect information as to the
success of medical procedures such as these is an essential part of
improving the quality of medical services in this country," says Mr Stephen
Brown, lecturer in computer science at NUI Maynooth.
In the past, colour photographs, plaster moulds, CAT scans and MRIs were
used but provided an imprecise record.
This system is deemed more effective and user-friendly because of its
portability, reduced risk to the patient and use of white-light
illumination, which aids in colour documentation.
"It's been very exciting and rewarding to have collaboration between
computer science researchers and medical practitioners in this country and
this has lead to the success of the project," says Mr Brown.
The shape analysis research is funded by Enterprise Ireland, the Irish
Science and Technology Agency, under the National Programme in Advanced
Technology in Software.
For further info see:
http://www.cs.may.ie/reseach/computer-vision/shape.html
For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
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