A method acquires a reconstructed tomographic volume image of anatomy of a patient and constructs a primary axis for a bone of interest in the imaged anatomy. The method forms a sectioned image of the bone in the volume image according to a first plane that is defined to extend along the bone and to extend through two or more articular surfaces. A primary axis for the bone is estimated, wherein the primary axis is midway between outer edges of the bone image that intersect the first sectioning plane. The bone is sectioned in the volume image by a second plane that is orthogonal to the first plane and that extends through the estimated primary axis. The method recalculates the position of the constructed primary axis according to the sectioning of the bone by the second plane. The recalculated constructed primary axis for the bone of interest is displayed.
