TAH(Total Artificial Heart) Fitting Trial Supported by 4D Volume Visualization Technique

4차원 체적 가시화 기법을 이용한 인공심장의 Fitting Trial

It is very useful to perform the surgery simulation before implanting TAH(Total Artificial Heart} in a patient. The space of chest and the shape of vessels are different from patient to patient. So, It is desirable to customize a TAH design to the anatomy structure of a patient. Several studies are performed to visualize and explain the 3D structure of heart. These studies are performed using 2-dimensional ref or mated images and simple measurement. Anatomy structure of a human heart is not so simple. It is 4dimensional structure ; 3-dimensional plus time, heart beating. 3-dimensional reconstruction schemes of medical images developed for about 10 years are usually categorized into two types of rendering technique ; surface rendering and volume rendering. Volume rendering is preferable in medical image processing field because this technique can be applied without considering the complexity of geometry and change of field of interest. The usable space in the chest of patient can be measured by 3D volume matching of patient trunk and TAH model. This space changes with time. In this research we have developed the 4-dimensional volume match program of patient and TAH model. 3-dimensional rendered set of volumes along time were used to simulate TAH fitting trial. The quantitative measurement from this simulation could be applied to customize TAH design.