Virtual Cosmetic Surgery

For some plastic surgery patients, expectations are unrealistically high. Basing their hopes on the before-and-after albums offered in surgeons' offices, they expect to achieve a perfect body or to look just like a favourite celeb. But those albums only show how someone else's liposuction, breast augmentation, or Beyonce bum enhancement turned out. Now Tel Aviv University researchers are developing software based on real clinical data to give patients a more accurate before-and-after picture before the scalpel comes down. Tackling a very difficult mathematical problem in computer modelling called predicting ‘deformations’ of non-rigid objects, researchers have built a tool that can generate an anatomically accurate after-surgery image. With the help of experienced plastic surgeons, the tool can work like a engine to retrieve geometric objects in the same manner Google retrieves web pages. It helps patients avoid unexpected results in the plastic surgeon's office, and can also help a surgeon determine the most favourable outcome for the patient.

Current image-prediction software only generates 2D images, and its processing power is limited to relatively simple image processing programs like Photoshop. The prototype gives surgeons and their patients a way to see a 3D before-and-after image as though the patient has really undergone the operation. For this application, the researchers applied data from past plastic surgery patients and considered a number of variables, such as the patients' ages and different tissue types. Researchers designed the program with the help of numerous pre- and post-surgery images fed into a computer to ‘teach’ it to more accurately generate post-surgery images. Now under commercial development, the software will not only show women and men a much more accurate outcome, but also help surgeons achieve more favourable results for their clientele. A significant challenge was creating an algorithm that could generate a 3D image from a 2D picture. Today's photographic equipment can ‘see’ and represent the human body from only one angle.

More information:

http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=13831