3-D Visualization of Rotator Cuff by Combining T1* and T2* MR Images

Rotator cuff tears of the shoulder are caused by bruise or age-related deterioration. They have been diagnosed by image diagnosis using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MR images provide the anatomical structures such as the muscle, the ligament and the bone by high resolution. However, it takes a long time and requires much effort for physicians to diagnose several tens of MR images. Additionally, physicians may overlook the disease of the shoulder because the structure of the shoulder is very complicate. To resolve these problems, we propose a method that estimates the rotator cuff by combining T1 weighted and T2 weighted MR images using fuzzy inference techniques and visualizes as 3-D image.