Abstract
In today clinical practice radiologists and surgeons make diagnosis and establish therapies on the basis of a “mental model� of the specific anatomy of the patient that they create starting from the information given by pre-operative exams (consisting in volumetric data examined as sequences of 2D images) and their anatomical knowledge. Current technologies give the possibility to visualize volumetric medical dataset, such as computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MRI), with 3D virtual models of anatomical structures. This kind of visualization permits an easy and natural understanding of anatomical structures described by the images, avoids interpretation error of the exams, and allows a clear communication between the radiological and the therapeutic departments. Further, the introduction of this 3D virtual representation of the patient anatomy inside the operative room, will lead to a revolution of the surgical scenario due to the development of image-guided and robotic systems. Visualization of 3D patient specific anatomical models offers great benefits for the physicians, in terms of improved diagnosis, surgical planning and surgical intervention, for the patients, in terms of safety and reduced invasiveness, and for the sanitary system in terms of efficiency and financial resource (due to less errors and reduced intervention time). In the paper we describe our experience in the adoption of these techniques in the treatment of abdominal organs and we provide an overview of solutions and of the methodological approach we followed in the development of a navigation system for laparoscopic surgery in the abdominal district.