Automatic Generation of Context Visualizations for Cerebral Aneurysms from MRA Datasets

Purpose: Cerebral aneurysms are dilatations of cerebral arteries and result from a local weakness of the vessel wall. They bear a high risk of rupture, leading to intracranial bleedings. Since these structures are parts of a complex vascular system, the adjacent vessels and the aneurysm position convey important contextual information for diagnosis and treatment planning. We concentrate on the automatic extraction and visualization of context information that include main cerebral arteries and the fine vessels that can emanate from the aneurysm body. This information is needed to estimate, if an aneurysm is accessible by means of minimal invasive treatment techniques and if it can be sealed without major disruption of the cerebral blood support.