Preliminary study on digitized nasal and temporal bone anatomy

The purpose of this study was to explore a feasible method for the reconstruction of the nasal and temporal bone structures of the Chinese virtual human project and provide a more accurate and facilitated way view them three-dimensionally (3D). The 3-D Slicer software was used to reconstruct the anatomic structures of the human nose and temporal bone. Segmentation and extraction of the contours of the ROI (region of interest) in each single slice were conducted and the processed volume data was transferred into the 3-D Slicer. After resegmentation, a set of labeled maps of the ROI were produced. Based on these maps, the 3D surface models of the tissues of interest were constructed. Four groups of paranasal sinuses, nasal septa, middle and inferior turbinates, temporal bones, tympanic cavities, mastoid air cells, sigmoid sinuses, and internal carotid arteries were reconstructed successfully. These models show spatial relationships and orientation between them. The results show that the 3-D Slicer may be used for the 3D visualization of parts of anatomic structures in the nose and temporal bone based on the first Chinese virtual human data, and thus, can facilitate the observation and understanding of the anatomic structures in this area.