Curved Multiplanar reconstruction (Curved MPR)

Curved multiplanar reconstruction (Curved MPR) is a very useful tool in Dental CT, Cardiac CT and Industrial CT. A volume is built by stacking the axial slices one behind the other. Curved multiplanar reconstruction (Curved MPR) involves generating perspectives to the stack of axial slices so that panoramic images and images from paraxial cuts can be generated.

The Curved MPR Window is accessible via the menu command "UtilitiesAdvancedCurved MPR Window".




Curved MPR main features
1) The program allows the user to insert many panoramic lines.
2) The program can generate automatically paraxial lines perpendicular to segments of a panoramic line. The user can add paraxial lines manually as well.
3) The program allows the user to perform measurements (length, angle) in panoramic and paraxial images.
4) The program allows the user to annotate the panoramic and paraxial images with texts and arrows.
5) The program can export the panoramic and paraxial images as DICOM images and/or as simple images (jpeg, tiff, bitmap etc.).
6) The program can print a synthesis of a panoramic image and its paraxial images.


The Panoramic Line
The panoramic line consist of many straight line segments. The user can create a panoramic line by selecting the panoramic tool () from the tools toolbar, and then by clicking the left mouse button on the desired points of the image, in the pane of axial slices. The user can finish the line creation by clicking the right mouse button on the last desired point. The program displays a "live view" of the panoramic image the same time that the user create the panoramic line. This feature allows the user to follow easily specific stuctures such as nerves. The user can delete the last inserted point by pressing the <BACKSPACE> keyboard key, or cancel the line insertion by pressing the <ESCAPE> keyboard key.




Modification of a panoramic line
The user can add and delete panoramic points, by selecting the "Panoramic" tool () from the tools toolbar, and then by clicking the right mouse button over a panoramic point. The selected panoramic segment is highlighted and a popup menu is appeared. The menu command "Delete Selected Point", deletes the selected point, and the menu command "Insert Point In Selected Segment" inserts a new point in the middle of the selected (highlighted) segment. The menu command "Continue Panoramic Line" allows the user to continue a finished panoramic line from its last point.



The user can move a point of a panoramic line to new position, by selecting the "Move Annotation"  tool ( ) from the tools toolbar, and then by clicking the left mouse button on a panoramic point. After that, the user can drag-and-drop the selected point to new position.




The Paraxial lines
The program can generate automatically paraxial lines perpendicular to segments of a panoramic line. Select the "Panoramic" tool () from the tools toolbar, and then click the right mouse button over the second panoramic point of the desired segment. The selected panoramic segment is highlighted and a popup menu is appeared. The menu command "Generate Paraxials In Selected Segment" generates the paraxial lines, and the menu command "Delete Paraxials In Selected Segment", deletes all existed paraxial lines of the selected segment.



The user can adjust the length of auto-generated paraxial lines and the distance between them by pressing the "Paraxial Line Properties"  button ( ) of the MPR toolbar. These properties does not affect already generated lines.



The user can change the length of existed paraxial lines and the distance between them, by selecting again the menu command "Generate Paraxials In Selected Segment" of the panoramic popup menu. The program deletes the existed paraxial lines and generates new ones with new properties.



The "Paraxial" tool () of the tools toolbar, allows the user to insert panoramic lines manually. The user can cancel the line insertion by by pressing the <ESCAPE> keyboard key. Paraxial lines belong to a panoramic line, thus this tool is disabled when there is no a panoramic line. The panoramic-paraxial dependency allows the program to print the panoramic line with its paraxials and not with all existed paraxials.
The user can move a point of a paraxial line to a new position, by selecting the "Move Annotation"  tool ( ) from the tools toolbar, and then by clicking the left mouse button on a paraxial point. After that, the user can drag-and-drop the selected point to new position.


The Main Toolbar

	Import an existing series
	Enable the full screen mode
	Enable the first or second tile mode
	Flip vertically panoramic and paraxial images
	Save an MPR frame to DICOM format
	Export an MPR frame to simple image format (jpeg, jpeg2000, tiff, png, bitmap)
	Copy the MPR image and put it on the clipboard
	Print the report
	Close the active document
	Apply zoom changes to all tiles
	Displays the image at actual size
	Displays the image to fit in the window
	Displays the image to fit width in the window
	Displays the image to fit height in the window
	Displays the first frame
	Displays the previous frame
	Displays the next frame
	Displays the last frame
	Shows or hide image annotation
	Displays this help topic

The MPR Toolbar

	Activates the first panoramic line
	Activates the previous panoramic line
	Activates the next panoramic line
	Activates the last panoramic line
	Activates the first paraxial line
	Activates the previous paraxial line
	Activates the next paraxial line
	Activates the last paraxial line
	Displays the dialog box of paraxial line properties

The Tools Toolbar

	Insert panoramic lines
	Insert paraxial lines manually
	Pan Hand
	Level Window
	Zoom In/Out
	Zoom Window
	Dynamic Zoom
	Measure Distance
	Measure Angle
	Annotation Text
	Annotation Arrow
	Erase Annotation
	Move Annotation

A jpeg image of a synthesis of a panoramic line and its paraxials.



A printed page of a synthesis of a panoramic line and its paraxials.



Measurements and annotations in a panoramic image