3-d visualization system of the cranium based on X-ray images

A 3-d visualization system of the cranium based on reconstruction from X-rays is presented. Since X-rays belong to the penetrating projection images, the objects do not have definite surface in images. To solve this problem, an approach of pasting the lead granules on the face of a patient and reconstructing the face through the correlated vision is adopted. Then the 3-d cranium model is built by subtracting the thickness of soft tissue from the face model. The whole system consists of image pre-processing, feature point recognition, matching, texture mapping, animation, and 3-d measurement. Only the X-ray machine, adhesive tapes with lead granules and M-ultrasonograph are needed. The experiment demonstrates that this approach s effective and of high precision. It can help doctors examine and measure the face and cranium of patients by computer. Hopefully, this product could he developed and applied in clinic one day.