Three-dimensional fusion imaging and virtual operative simulation

This report examines the basic knowledge, reconstruction techniques, usefulness, and limitations of the three-dimensional (3D) fusion imaging method. The 3D fusion imaging method uses multiple modalities, but is still in the early stages of development due to limitations of computer hardware, image processing software, and reconstruction methods. Standard 3D image reconstruction by comparatively simple processing from one kind of image data is widely used and has excellent spatial information and simplicity of construction. However, this infor- mation is insufficient for use in a preoperative simulation due to the relatively low resolution of the anatomical information. In contrast, there have been several reports of the usefulness of 3D fusion images using multiple modalities in neurosurgical preoperative simulations. This report will compare and contrast these two methods by illustrating results from each in clinical cases.