Background: Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies are used separately for surgical planning of spine surgery. Advanced techniques exist for creating CT-MR fusion images, but at this time these techniques are not easily accessible for large-scale use. Technique: We propose a simple graphical technique for CT-MR image overlay, for use in the surgical planning of spinal decompression and guidance of intraoperative resection. The proposed technique involves overlaying a single cross-section from anatomically comparable MRI and CT studies on any software with basic image editing functions. Results: We demonstrate CT-MR fusion images of 8 patients of the senior author in which the technique was used. We found that it can also be referenced intraoperatively for navigation.Conclusions: Compared to other techniques, our proposed method can be easily implemented by clinicians to create simple CT-MRI fusion images that can be useful for preoperative planning and intraoperative navigation.
Magnetic resonance imaging–based synthetic computed tomography of the lumbar spine for surgical planning: a clinical proof-of-concept
