Stanford scientists create three-dimensional bladder reconstruction

Stanford News


March 16, 2017Stanford scientists create three-dimensional bladder reconstruction Advanced computer imaging technology has created a three-dimensional computer reconstruction of a patient’s bladder. The technique, which works on any hollow organ, could help doctors locate tumors or other disorders and prepare for surgery.





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By Jackie Flynn

The way doctors examine the bladder for tumors or stones is like exploring the contours of a cave with a flashlight. Using cameras attached to long, flexible instruments called endoscopes, they find that it’s sometimes difficult to orient the location of masses within the bladder’s blood vessel-lined walls.

Audrey Bowden, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, is a co-senior author of a paper about modeling the bladder with advanced computer imaging technology. (Image credit: Jabulani Barber)

This could change with a new computer vision technique developed by Stanford researchers that creates three-dimensional bladder reconstructions out of the endoscope’s otherwise fleeting images. With this fusion of medicine and engineering, doctors could develop organ maps, better prepare for operations and detect early cancer recurrences. See video here.
“The beauty of this project is that we can take data that doctors are already collecting,” said Audrey Bowden, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. She is a co-senior author on a recent paper published in Biomedical Optics Express that describes the method.
Bladder cancer has among the highest recurrence rates of any cancer. From 50 percent to 70 percent of tumors return after removal, according to Joseph Liao, an associate professor of urology at the School of Medicine and co-senior author on the paper. Being able to see each patient’s bladder as a three-dimensional model could improve surgical planning and monitor cancer recurrence.
“Endoscopy of the bladder, called cystoscopy, is an integral part of cancer management. Anything you can do to improve endoscopy is helpful,” Liao said. “Surgeons are always ...


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