Systems and method of planning thoracic surgery

1 . A method of planning a thoracic surgery comprising:

receiving computed tomography (CT) image data;

receiving an indication of a location of a suspected tumor in the CT image data;

generate a three-dimensional model (3D) from the CT image data;

display the 3D model in a user interface;

receiving an input via the user interface of selection of a generation level of the 3D model;

removing from the displayed 3D model in a user interface the generations beyond the selected generation level;

receiving a selection of a crop tool to crop the 3D model to a region around a suspected tumor in the 3D model;

presenting the region of the 3D model around the suspected tumor;

receiving a change in dimensions of the region of the 3D model around the suspected tumor;

identifying all airways and blood vessels of the 3D model entering the changed region and all preceding airways and blood vessels directly connected to the airways and blood vessels in the 3D model to form identified airways and blood vessels; and

removing from the 3D model all airways and blood vessels other than the identified airways and blood vessels.

2 . A method of planning a thoracic surgery comprising:

receiving computed tomography (CT) image data;

generating a three-dimensional model (3D) from the CT image data;

displaying the 3D model;

receiving an input selecting a generation level of the 3D model and removing generations from the 3D model beyond the selected generation level;

removing from the displayed 3D model the generations beyond the selected generation level;

receiving a selection of a crop tool to crop the 3D model to a region around a suspected tumor in the 3D model;

presenting the region of the 3D model around the suspected tumor;

identifying all airways and blood vessels of the 3D model entering the region and all preceding airways and blood vessels directly connected to the airways and blood vessels entering the region in the 3D model;

removing from the 3D model all airways and blood vessels other than the identified airways and blood vessels; and

displaying the 3D model in a user interface, wherein the 3D model includes only the identified airways and blood vessels.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving an indication of a location of a suspected tumor in the CT image data.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining a generation by identifying a bifurcation of an airway or blood vessel and determining a diameter of an airway or blood vessel leading to the bifurcation and a diameter of airways or blood vessels extending beyond the bifurcation, wherein one of the airways or blood vessels extending from the bifurcation considered the same generation as the airway or blood vessel leading to the bifurcation when the determined diameters are similar in size.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining that an airway or blood vessel extending from a bifurcation is at a next generation when that airway or blood vessel's diameter less than 50% of the diameter of the airway or blood vessel leading to the bifurcation.

6 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving a change in shape of the region around the suspected tumor.

7 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising capturing a screenshot.

8 . The method of claim 2 further comprising at least one CT image, wherein the CT image is tied to the 3D model such that manipulation of the 3D model results in corresponding changes to the display of the CT image.

9 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising segmenting airways and blood vessels in the CT image data to generate the 3D model.

10 . A thoracic surgery planning system comprising:

a processor;

a display in communication with the processor; and

a memory in communication with the processor, wherein the memory stores therein executable code that when executed by the processor generate a user interface (UI) for display on the display, the user interface including,

a three-dimensional (3D) model of airways and vasculature of a patient's lungs;

at least one generation tool configured to limit a number of generations of the 3D model displayed, wherein upon receipt of an input via the user interface of a generation level removes from the displayed 3D model in a user interface generations of the 3D model beyond a selected generation level;

a margin tool configured to adjust a displayed margin around a suspected tumor;

a plurality of orientation manipulation tools configured to alter a view of the 3D model presented in the UI; and

a crop tool, which when selected, crops the 3D model presented in the UI to a region around the suspected tumor.

11 . The thoracic surgery planning system of claim 10 , wherein the memory is configured to receive CT image scan data and the processor is configured executed code stored in the memory to generate the 3D model from the CT image scan.

12 . The thoracic surgery planning system of claim 10 , wherein the UI includes an orientation compass identifying axial, coronal, and sagittal planes of 3D model.

13 . The thoracic surgery planning system of claim 12 , further comprising an anchoring tool, wherein the anchoring tool enables placement of the orientation compass on or near the 3D model to define a point of rotation of the 3D model.

14 . The thoracic surgery planning system of claim 10 , further comprising a single axis rotation tool, wherein when one of the axes in the single axis selection to is selected, all further inputs to rotate the 3D model achieve rotation only about the selected axis.

15 . The thoracic surgery planning system of claim 10 , further comprising a zoom tool, wherein the zoom tool depicts a relative size of the presented model in the UI compared to full size.

16 . The thoracic surgery planning system of claim 15 , wherein the zoom tool also enables panning of the 3D model in the UI.

17 . The thoracic surgery planning system of claim 10 , wherein the region is adjustable such that segments of airways or blood vessels are included or excluded from the region.

18 . The thoracic surgery planning system of claim 17 , wherein when the crop is executed the processor executes code to determine the airways or blood vessels which are within the region and any of their preceding airways or blood vessels, and the 3D model is updated to eliminate all airways or blood vessels except for the identified airways or blood vessels.