Measurement of tumor resection volumes from computerized images. Technical note.

The authors describe a method for quantitation of the area and volume of the resection cavity in patients who have undergone surgery for brain tumors. Using a slide scanner and Image 1.27, a public domain program for the Apple Macintosh II computer, computerized tomography scans and magnetic resonance images can be digitized and analyzed for a particular region of interest, such as the area and volume of tumor on preoperative and postresection scans. Phantom scans were used to analyze the accuracy of the program and the program users. User error was estimated at 2%, program error was 4.5%. This methodology is proposed as a means of retrospectively calculating the extent of tumor resection.