Flattening-based visualization of supine breast MRI | TU Wien

Information

Publication Type: Journal Paper (without talk)
Workgroup(s)/Project(s): not specified
Date: September 2025
Article Number: 104395
DOI: 10.1016/j.cag.2025.104395
ISSN: 1873-7684
Journal: COMPUTERS & GRAPHICS-UK
Open Access: yes
Pages: 9
Volume: 133
Publisher: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Keywords: Image reformation, Medical visualization, Breast imaging, Radiology

Abstract

We propose two novel visualization methods optimized for supine breast images that “flatten” breast tissue, facilitating examination of larger tissue areas within each coronal slice. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women, and early lesion detection is crucial for reducing mortality. Supine breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables better lesion localization for image-guided interventions; however, traditional axial visualization is suboptimal because the tissue spreads over the chest wall, resulting in numerous fragmented slices that radiologists must scroll through during standard interpretation. Using a human-centered design approach, we incorporated user and expert feedback throughout the co-design and evaluation stages of our flattening methods. Our first proposed method, a surface-cutting approach, generates offset surfaces and flattens them independently using As-Rigid-As-Possible (ARAP) surface mesh parameterization. The second method uses a landmark-based warp to flatten the entire breast volume at once. Expert evaluations revealed that the surface-cutting method provides intuitive overviews and clear vascular detail, with low metric (2–2.5%) and area (3.7–4.4%) distortions. However, independent slice flattening can introduce depth distortions across layers. The landmark warp offers consistent slice alignment and supports direct annotations and measurements, with radiologists favoring it for its anatomical accuracy. Both methods significantly reduced the number of slices needed to review, highlighting their potential for time savings and clinical impact — an essential factor for adopting supine MRI.

Additional Files and Images

paper

Weblinks

BibTeX

@article{kummer-2025-fvo,
  title =      "Flattening-based visualization of supine breast MRI",
  author =     "Julia Kummer and Elmar Laistler and Lena Nohava and Renata
               Raidou and Katja B\"{u}hler",
  year =       "2025",
  abstract =   "We propose two novel visualization methods optimized for
               supine breast images that “flatten” breast tissue,
               facilitating examination of larger tissue areas within each
               coronal slice. Breast cancer is the most frequently
               diagnosed cancer in women, and early lesion detection is
               crucial for reducing mortality. Supine breast magnetic
               resonance imaging (MRI) enables better lesion localization
               for image-guided interventions; however, traditional axial
               visualization is suboptimal because the tissue spreads over
               the chest wall, resulting in numerous fragmented slices that
               radiologists must scroll through during standard
               interpretation. Using a human-centered design approach, we
               incorporated user and expert feedback throughout the
               co-design and evaluation stages of our flattening methods.
               Our first proposed method, a surface-cutting approach,
               generates offset surfaces and flattens them independently
               using As-Rigid-As-Possible (ARAP) surface mesh
               parameterization. The second method uses a landmark-based
               warp to flatten the entire breast volume at once. Expert
               evaluations revealed that the surface-cutting method
               provides intuitive overviews and clear vascular detail, with
               low metric (2–2.5%) and area (3.7–4.4%) distortions.
               However, independent slice flattening can introduce depth
               distortions across layers. The landmark warp offers
               consistent slice alignment and supports direct annotations
               and measurements, with radiologists favoring it for its
               anatomical accuracy. Both methods significantly reduced the
               number of slices needed to review, highlighting their
               potential for time savings and clinical impact — an
               essential factor for adopting supine MRI.",
  month =      sep,
  articleno =  "104395",
  doi =        "10.1016/j.cag.2025.104395",
  issn =       "1873-7684",
  journal =    "COMPUTERS & GRAPHICS-UK",
  pages =      "9",
  volume =     "133",
  publisher =  "PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD",
  keywords =   "Image reformation, Medical visualization, Breast imaging,
               Radiology",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2025/kummer-2025-fvo/",
}