3D Reconstruction of facial structures from 2D images for cosmetic surgery

3D-operation planning which makes the preoperative visualization of patient´s postoperative appearance is one of the main applications in reconstructive and cranio-facial surgeries. The current preoperative surgical planning with respect to tissue changes is based mostly on frontal analysis of 2D information sources such as photographs and X-rays. It is necessary to develop an automatic guided software for performing cosmetic surgery by the process of simulating three dimensional visualization techniques suitable for the display of complex structures of the facial skeleton and of skull base. Three dimensional surface reconstruction of cranial anatomy is obtained from CT (Computer Tomographic) or MRI (Magnetic Resonance Images) images. 3D CT/MRI reconstruction of images is an attractive field generally in digital image processing techniques especially in bio-medical applications. This paper discusses the process of developing a 3D model from the given CT/MRI images based on iso-surface extraction and reconstruction.