• Ioannis Kournoutas, Vera Vigo, Ricky Chae, Minghao Wang, Jose Gurrola, Adib A Abla, Ivan El-Sayed, and Roberto Rodriguez Rubio.
• Skull Base and Cerebrovascular Laboratory, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 Sep 1; 129: 372-377.

ObjectiveIn this study we aim to evaluate the feasibility of creating volumetric models of highly intricate skull-base anatomy-previously not amenable to volumetric reconstruction-using endoscopic endonasal approaches.MethodsTen human cadaveric heads were dissected through the nasal corridor to expose anterior, middle, and posterior cranial fossi structures and the pterygopalatine and infratemporal fossi. A rigid endoscope with a 30° lens was used to capture the images. Subsequently, a photogrammetry software was used to align, smooth, and texturize the images into a complete 3-dimensional model.ResultsAn average of 174 photographs were used to construct each model (n = 10). In the end, we achieved high-definition stereoscopic volumetric models of the nasal corridor; paranasal fossae; and anterior, middle and posterior fossae structures that preserved structural integrity. Strategic points of interests were labeled and animated for educational use.ConclusionsEndoscopic volumetric models represent a new way to depict the anatomy of the skull base; their use with 3-dimensional technologies could potentially improve the visuospatial understanding of narrow surgical corridors for education and surgical-planning purposes.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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