3D reconstruction of bone structures based on planar radiography

Abstract

The 3D reconstruction of bone structures has many advantages in orthopedic applications. 3D bone models could be used in computer assisted surgery systems or in the pre-operative planning of an orthopedic surgery. The visualization of these models will lead to higher surgery accuracy. Usually the 3D reconstruction is done with CT or MRI scans. However these modalities have some disadvantages like the high costs, high acquisition time and high radiation. So, the planar radiography emerges as a more advantageous modality, because it avoids exposure to high radiation, reduces the acquisition time and costs and also is the most usually acquired study in the pre-operative planning of an orthopedic surgery. The principal challenge in reconstructing bone models from planar radiography is that a lot of information is missing when only one or two orthogonal images are used. So it's hard to obtain a precise geometry of the bone structure with only this information. In this work, we present a solution for the problem of reconstructing bone structures from planar radiography. With this solution, it's possible to obtain a 3D model of the bone that is suitable for orthopedic surgery planning.