title: Virtual liver resection: computer-assisted operation planning using a three-dimensional liver representation.
abstract: In liver surgery, understanding the complicated liver structures and a detailed evaluation of the functional liver remnant volume are essential to perform safe surgical procedures. Recent advances in imaging technology have enabled operation planning using three-dimensional (3D) image-processing software. Virtual liver resection systems provide (1) 3D imaging of liver structures, (2) detailed volumetric analyses based on portal perfusion, and (3) quantitative estimates of the venous drainage area, enabling the investigation of uncharted fields that cannot be examined using a conventional two-dimensional modality. The next step in computer-assisted liver surgery is the application of a virtual hepatectomy to real-time operations. However, the need for a precise alignment between the preoperative imaging data and the intraoperative situation remains to be adequately addressed, since the liver is subject to deformation and respiratory movements during the surgical procedures. We expect that the practical application of a navigation system for transferring the preoperative planning to real-time operations could make liver surgery safer and more standardized in the near future.
authors.affiliation: Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mise
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tani
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kokudo
mesh_terms: D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface