VERIFICATION OF THE SCHALTENBRAND AND WAHREN STEREOTAXIC ATLAS

The Schaltenbrand and Wahren stereotactic atlas was critically re-exam ined focusing on the technical quality and the consistency of the hori zontal, sagittal and frontal microscopic cut series. From each series, both an isotropic contour and a solid volume model represented by a 2 56(3) matrix with an edge length of 6.4 cm were created using 3D-inter polation. Reslicing of the solid volumes in corresponding orthogonal p lanes enabled thorough direct comparison of the three series. In a 3D- navigation system prototype, the contour models can be matched to MRI and CT series. Different procedures for rigid matching including landm ark matching were implemented. As regards the verification criteria, t he frontal Schaltenbrand and Wahren series yielded the most comprehens ible results whereas in the horizontal and sagittal series artifacts a ppear more pronounced.