Question

Use of 3D medical imaging with examples. (300 words)

Answer 1

Medical imaging is used to create visual representations of the interior of the body for clinical analysis and medical intervention of complex diseases in a short period of time.The medical imaging market is poised to grow significantly over the nest five years as medical providers continue to seek innovative ways to enhance patient care.

Traditional medical imaging systems provide 2D visual representations of human organs while more advanced digital medical imaging systems (eg-X-ray,CT)can create both 2D and in many cases 3D images of human organs.Systems capable of 3D digital medical imaging are currently only a small part of the overall medical imaging market.

Displays are an integral part of these digital medical imaging systems.Current systems are being provided with displays that can only visually represent the imaging data collected in 2D or at best in simulated 3D on 2D.As advances continue to be made in 3D displays,including glasses-free 3D voumetric displays,the potential applications are endless.Some key verticals within medicine that can benifit from 3D imaging are as follows:

MRI/Scan

A typical CT scan or MRI produces hundreds of images at one timethat then need to be reviewed.It is time consuming to ensure all angles and images are accounted for,not only for patients but also for radiologists and referring doctors,who need to look at every single cross-section image before deciding on a course of treatment.

By utilising 3D technology within medical imaging,one can able to take those cross-section slices and combined them into a concise 3D visual of the area being scanned.The 3D data is viewable without any additional viewing aids in true 3D.This reduces eye fatigue of the viewers and increase congnitive awareness.Certain 3D display technologies currently under development can display these images with resolutions as high as 80000 voxels,a factor of 10x higher resolution tha commercially available 2D displays.

An example would be a collaborative evaluation of an MRI,CT or ultrasonic image to determine the presence of an anomaly that otherwise would be abscured when viewed on conventional 2D or simulated 3D on 2D display-like looking for a tumor in dense breast tissue.

Benifits include improved diagnostic confidence from patients,the replacement of more invasive disgnostic procedures and an easy to read solution for patient education.

Surgery

Currently,surgeons have to "mentally solve" a patient's problem based on what they know about anatomy from 2D images.With 3D imaging,a surgeon can see a true picture of the anatomy and interact with it any way they choose,allowing them to solve the issue at hand before picking up a scalpel.

Utilisong this process minimizes the exploratory surgeries and procedures,and also decreases damage to surround healthy tissues by more exactly pinpointing the treatment area.eing able to view the comprehensive 3D image of the area before surgery limits surprises in the operating room and also increase efficiency of treatment.

Telemedicine

It is very difficult to maintain all areas of medical expertise on a single location,whether for research or medical treatment.3D imaging create an innovative opportunity to more accurately represent medical data in 3D than traditional imaging technologies,which can then be viewed simultaneously from different locations around world.

In the implications for the battlefield medicine,disaster response or emergency medical care.appropriate medical attention is needed within minutes in order to save life.A 3D display would allow medical experts from anywhere in the world to review and assess various injuries in order to recommend treatment performed by responders on-scene.

This also limits the need to transport patients to different facilities to be examined by specialists,because a true,3D visualization of the treatment area is available in seconds,allowing diagnosis from anywhere.

3D Printing

3D printing is ideal partner for 3D medical imaging because of the uniqueness of every patient and the challenges this creates in sustainable business models that require selling large volumes of sililar products.One example is prosthetics,while another is eonatal-specific devices for short-term care.

One near term application is the printing of physical models from 3D data that can be used for planning critical surgeries or general training.In both cases the primary challenge with 3D printing continues to be speed.The benifit of speed is significan,as the medical user may require information much faster than a printer might allow,even when the 3D imaging data is available in real time.

As a discipline and it's widest sense,3D imaging is a part of biological imaging and incorporates radiology which uses the imaging technologies of X-Ray radiography,magnetic resonance imaging,medical ultrasonography or ultrasound,endoscopy,elastography,tectile imaging,thermography,medical photography and nuclear medcla functional imaging techniques as positron emission tomography(PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography(SPECT) are other examples.

Measurement and recording techniques which are not primarilily designed to produce images,such as electroencephalography(EEG),magnetoencephalography(MEG),electrocardiography(ECG) and others represent other technologies which produce data susciptible to representation as a parameter graph vs.time or maps which contain data about the measurement locations.