Three-dimensional visualization of intracranial tumors with cortical surface and vasculature from routine MR sequences

The simultaneous three-dimensional (3D) visualization of intracranial tumors, brain structures, skull, and vessels is desired by neurosurgeons to create a clear mental picture of the anatomical orientation of the surgical field prior to the surgical intervention. Different anatomical and pathological components are usually visualized separately on different magnetic resonance (MR) sequences; however, during surgery, they are tackled simultaneously. Another problem is that most present day MR workstations enable review of two-dimensional (2D) slices only with limited postprocessing options. With recent software developments, a simultaneous 3D visualization simulating the real surgical field is possible using commercial or open source softwares. The authors have reviewed the important concepts and described a technique of interactive 3D visualization from routine 3D T1-weighted, MR angiography, and MR venography sequences using open source FSL (Functional MRI of the brain software library) and BrainSuite softwares.