Analysis of existing methods for 3D modelling of femurs starting from two orthogonal images and development of a script for a commercial software package.

Background: At present the interest in medical field about the generation of three-dimensional digital models of anatomical structures increases due to the widespread diffusion of CAS--computer assisted surgery--systems. Most of them are based on CT--computer tomography--or MR--magnetic resonance--data volumes but sometimes this information is not available; there are only few X-ray, ultrasound or fluoroscopic images.

Methods: This paper describes the study and the development of a script for a commercial software package (3ds Max) able to reconfigure the template model of a femur starting from two orthogonal images representing the specific patient's anatomy.

Results: The script was used in several tests as summarized in this paper and the results appear to be interesting and acceptable, even for the medical experts that evaluated them.

Conclusions: The script developed in this work allows the generation of the 3D model of a femur in a very simple way (the user interface has been developed obeying to the main usability guidelines) and using a widespread commercial package. The quality of the results can be compared to the quality of more expensive and specialized systems.