Computer assisted fracture reduction and fixation simulation for pelvic fractures

The objective of this study is to present an integrated surgical simulation program on a personal computer for the preoperative planning of pelvic fractures. It first provides a visualization module to display 2D images and 3D model simultaneously. A semi-automatic bone segmentation module is then provided to separate the bony structures, enabling the manipulation of individual fractured bone and bone fragment. A bone reduction module is provided for the localization of the fractured bones. The simulation of plate and screw fixation is also presented, which provides useful information for determining the shape and size of the implants. Also, an example with real CT images are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method.