3D planar reformation of vascular central axis surface with biconvex slab.

Curved multi-planar reformation (curved MPR) is one of the commonly used vascular visualization methods in clinics. It re-samples and visualizes the vascular central axis surface (VCAS), which is a curved surface passing through the vascular central axis (VCA) or vessel centerline. The rotation of the VCAS along the VCA generates a set of 2D images. In this paper, we introduce a 3D curved MPR method, VCAS planar reformation (VPR) by a convex hull, called a biconvex slab. The entire vessel is enclosed within a biconvex slab and rendered in one image by volume rendering, such as MIP or X-ray. The method is applied to computed tomographic angiography (CTA) data sets. The resulting image is clear and free from obstruction by bones and other adjacent organs.