A web-based system for surgical planning and simulation

The growing scientific knowledge and rapid progress in medical imaging techniques has led to an increasing demand for better and more efficient methods of remote access to high-performance computer facilities. This paper introduces a web-based telemedicine project that provides interactive tools for surgical simulation and planning. The presented approach makes use of client-server architecture based on new internet technology where clients use an ordinary web browser to view, send, receive and manipulate patients' medical records while the server uses the supercomputer facility to generate online semi-automatic segmentation, 3-D visualization, surgical simulation/planning and neuroendoscopic procedures navigation. The supercomputer (SGI ONYX 1000) is located at the Computer Vision and Image Processing (CVIP) Lab, University of Louisville, Kentucky. This system is under development in cooperation with the Department of Neurological Surgery, Alliant Health Systems, Louisville, Kentucky. The server is connected via a network to the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) at Alliant Health Systems through a DICOM standard interface that enables authorized clients to access patients' images from different medical modalities.