Method of determination of access areas from 3d patient images

A method for automatically determining at least one pre-operative portal for arthroscopy from acquired pre-operative medical images of a bone of a patient, the-said method comprising the following steps:

• i) constructing a 3D surface of the bone from the 3D image of the bone;
• ii) determining anatomical landmarks of the bone from the 3D surface;
• iii) determining a bone reference coordinate system from the anatomical landmarks;
• iv) selecting at least one predetermined portal in a database of positions of predetermined portals previously defined on a 3D model representing a bone of a reference person;
• v) determining a transform between the bone reference coordinate system and the model coordinate system so that the bone of the patient represented in the bone reference coordinate system and the bone of the reference person represented in the model coordinate system are matched in size, in position and/or shape ;
• vi) inferring from the transform and the at least one predetermined portal the pre-operative portal.