The Cerefy Atlas of Cerebral Vasculature/CD-ROM. Wieslaw L. Nowinski, A. Thirunavuukarasuu, Ihar Volkau, Yevgen Marchenko, Val M. Runge (Authors). Thieme 2009, $199.00.
As stated by Wieslaw L. Nowinski, in the Introduction, the Cerefy Atlas was designed to “create an interactive, three-dimensional (3D), stereotactic, highly parcellated, fully segmented, completely labeled, and electronically dissectable atlas of the human cerebral vasculature.”
The authors have far exceeded this goal. The Cerefy Atlas is derived from 3 Tesla MRA and MRI scans. It provides beautiful, high resolution images of cerebral arteries and veins. The content is comprehensive in that major arteries and veins as well as third and fourth level branches are accurately displayed. Another nice feature is that the vessels are color coded according to major vascular territory. The arteries and veins can also be viewed in a single color mode (red for arteries and blue for veins). The atlas is very well organized and user friendly. One can easily rotate any artery or vein or any combination of arteries and veins in any direction. It is also very easy to add and subtract veins or segments of vessels, pan through the images and zoom in on any particular area. The atlas is seamlessly integrated with relatively high resolution, thin section axial, coronal and sagittal T1 weighted MRI and MR angiography raw data images. It is also nicely integrated with 3D models of the brain and ventricles. All of these additional images can also be rotated in any direction.
In addition to exquisite images, the atlas provides valuable, easy to use 2D and 3D labeling techniques by which the user can click on any vessel and the name of the vessel and its diameter automatically appear on the screen. If the user holds the mouse button and drags, the label appears at the end of a line Moreover, if the user holds down the mouse button, a pull down menu allowing selection of anatomy, variability and references appears. Selection of the buttons provides a comprehensive, well referenced description of the course and variability of the vessel as well as clear schematic drawings. The description can be accessed separately by clicking on a description button in the left control panel. The user can also obtain quantitative data by easily clicking and dragging with a 3D measuring tool.
All of the above features make the atlas an excellent teaching and reference tool. Furthermore, there are a number of additional features that add to its quality and usefulness and deserve mentioning. Simple check boxes for vessel synonyms, co-ordinate display and grouping are provided. The user can easily search for a vessel by clicking on its name in the vascular index; the chosen vessel immediately flashes between white and red. The atlas also provides a test mode for viewing. In this mode, the name of a vessel is provided in red on the right side of the screen. The user then clicks on the vessel. A results window tells the user whether or not he got the right answer and provides a score. The atlas allows the user to easily save images into TIFF format to an external file. This added feature is particularly nice for use in PowerPoint presentations as a teaching tool. The descriptive text can also be printed or saved to an external file. Finally, it should be mentioned that the CD ROM includes well written and easy to follow instructions and directions with user interface snapshots.
From the above description, it should be clear that the Cerefy Atlas is a unique, very high quality product that is comprehensive, versatile and easy to use. It is an outstanding, interactive computer based tool that is unparalleled. I am not aware of any product on the market that is nearly as good. It should be exceedingly useful for a wide variety of physicians who encounter cerebral vessels, including neuroradiologists, neurointerventionalists, neurosurgeons, neurologists and neuropathologists to name a few. It is useful as a reference for experienced physicians and as a teaching tool for residents, interns and medical students. It is particularly useful for trainees who are performing fewer angiograms and who may find it more challenging to integrate vascular anatomy with MR imaging.
In conclusion, I highly recommend the Cerefy Atlas to anyone who is interested in studying cerebral vasculature. It is an extraordinary product.
