• Sergio Corvino, Amedeo Piazza, Toma Spiriev, Roberto Tafuto, Francesco Corrivetti, Domenico Solari, Luigi Maria Cavallo, Alberto Di Somma, Joaquim Enseñat, Matteo de Notaris, and Giorgio Iaconetta.
• Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Neuroscience and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Naples, Italy; Department of Neuroscience and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, Program in Neuroscience, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Naples, Italy; Laboratory of Neuroanatomy, EBRIS Foundation, European Biomedical Research Institute of Salerno, Salerno, Italy.
• World Neurosurg. 2024 May 1; 185: e367e375e367-e375.

BackgroundVirtual reality-based learning of neuroanatomy is a new feasible method to explore, visualize, and dissect interactively complex anatomic regions. We provide a new interactive photorealistic three-dimensional (3D) model of sellar region microsurgical anatomy that allows side-by-side views of exocranial and endocranial surfaces to be explored, with the aim of assisting young neurosurgery residents in learning microsurgical anatomy of this complex region.MethodsFour head specimens underwent an endoscopic endonasal approach extended to the anterior and posterior skull base to expose the main bony anatomic landmarks of the sellar region. The same bony structures were exposed from a transcranial perspective. By using a photogrammetry method, multiple photographs from both endocranial and exocranial perspectives, different for angulations and depth, were captured, fused, and processed through dedicated software.ResultsAll relevant bony structures were clearly distinguishable in the 3D model reconstruction, which provides several benefits in neuroanatomy learning: first, it replicates bony structures with high degrees of realism, accuracy, and fidelity; in addition, it provides realistic spatial perception of the depth of the visualized structures and their anatomic relationships; again, the 3D model is interactive and allows a 360° self-guided tour of the reconstructed object, so that the learner can read the bones and their anatomic relationship from all desired points of view.ConclusionsDetailed knowledge of key surgical landmarks representing keyholes and/or anatomic structures to not violate is mandatory for safer surgery, especially for a complex region such as the skull base. Highly accurate virtual and functional neurosurgical models, such as photogrammetry, can generate a realistic appearance to further improve surgical simulators and learn neuroanatomy.Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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