Creation and validation of patient specific anatomical models for prostate surgery planning using virtual reality

Prostate surgery to remove cancer can be associated with morbidity due to complex and variable individual anatomy. We have developed and demonstrated the ability to accurately extract patient-specific anatomic regions from MRI pelvic scan data of pre-prostatectomy patients and to effectively convert these volume images to faithful polygonal surface representations of anatomic models for use in interactive virtual surgical planning. Models of the prostate gland and surrounding structures from several patients were created then evaluated by a radiologist and a surgeon who found them to be faithful and consistent with real anatomy. The surgeon provided confirming post-operative validation of the patient-specific models in planning radical prostatectomies.