Abstract: A method of formatting data for identifying colon polyps in a Computed Tomography Colonography (CTC) dataset comprising the steps of: extracting colon surface data, from the CTC dataset, within a sub-volume centered on a candidate polyp (CP) seed point; identifying individual sets of points corresponding to the CP's body and CP's base within the sub-volume; selecting the points corresponding to the body; re-formatting the candidate polyp by projecting the selected points corresponding to the body on to a tangent plane; and generating a series of cutting planes based on the reformatted candidate polyp.

Abstract: A method of formatting data for detecting flat polyps in a Computed Tomography Colonography, CTC, dataset comprising the steps of: extracting colon surface data, from the CTC dataset, within a sub-volume centred on a candidate polyp seed point; identifying individual sets of points corresponding to the candidate polyp's body and the candidate polyp's base within that sub-volume; projecting the set of points corresponding to the candidate polyp's body on to a tangent plane via a normal vector, wherein the normal vector is calculated from the best fitting plane to the set of points corresponding to the candidate polyp's base; isolating a new seed point for the candidate polyp from the projected data; locating the nearest surface point to the new seed in the extracted dataset above, and region-growing the surface ab initio from this point; identifying individual sets of points corresponding to the candidate polyp's body and the candidate polyp's base in the region-grown surface, and determining the normal vector

Abstract: A surgical simulator is disclosed. The simulator includes at least one tracking system configured to track movement within a body form, including movement of an instrument located partially within the body form, and a computer receiving data from the tracking system and outputting data to a display. A display displays a virtual background including a virtual image of at least a portion of the instrument, virtual movement of the instrument, and a virtual image of at least one organ. The simulator also includes a physical model corresponding to the at least one organ and located within the body form, the physical model providing haptic feedback when contacted by the instrument.