NASAL-Geom, a free upper respiratory tract 3D model reconstruction software

Abstract

The tool NASAL-Geom, a free upper respiratory tract 3D model reconstruction software, is here described. As a free software, researchers and professionals are welcome to obtain, analyze, improve and redistribute it, potentially increasing the rate of development, and reducing at the same time ethical conflicts regarding medical applications which cannot be analyzed. Additionally, the tool has been optimized for the specific task of reading upper respiratory tract Computerized Tomography scans, and producing 3D geometries. The reconstruction process is divided into three stages: preprocessing (including Metal Artifact Reduction, noise removal, and feature enhancement), segmentation (where the nasal cavity is identified), and 3D geometry reconstruction. The tool has been automatized (i.e. no human intervention is required) a critical feature to avoid bias in the reconstructed geometries. The applied methodology is discussed, as well as the program robustness and precision. Program summaryProgram Title: NASAL-GeomProgram Files doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/d23m5ykyw2.1Licensing provisions: GPLv3Programming language: Python, Cython, C, OpenCLNature of problem: Upper respiratory tract 3D model reconstruction from CT imagesSolution method: 3D geometry reconstruction is divided into three stages: imagery preprocessing (including Metal Artifact Reduction, noise removal, and features enhancement), segmentation (where the nasal cavity is identified) and 3D geometry reconstructionAdditional comments: At least 8GB of RAM memory are recommended