Subject: A Virtual 3D Model of a Human Temporal Bone for Windows, From: Tony Miller <ajmiller(at)MIT.EDU> Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 13:26:08 -0500Some list members may be interested in a virtual model for teaching the anatomy of the human temporal bone, now available for download from the following web address: http://epl.meei.harvard.edu/~hwang/3Dviewer/3Dviewer.html The EPL 3-dimensional (3-D) virtual model of a human temporal bone is a powerful teaching tool for learning the complex anatomy of the human temporal bone and for relating the 2-D morphology from a histological section to the 3-D anatomy. The model was created from archival histological sections from a 14-year old male. The specimen was formalin fixed, decalcified, embedded in celloidin, serially sectioned in the axial plane at 20 microns, stained with hematoxylin and eosin, and mounted on slides. Low-power views of every fifth section through the temporal bone were digitized and imported into Amira v3.1 (Mercury Computer Systems/TGS, San Diego, CA). The sections were aligned and segmented into anatomical "structures of interest". The 3-D model is a surface rendering of these structures of interest, which currently includes (among others) the bone and air spaces of the temporal bone; the perilymphatic and endolymphatic spaces including cochlear aqueduct and endolymphatic duct and sac; the sensory epithelia of the cochlear and vestibular labyrinths; the ossicles and tympanic membrane; the middle-ear muscles; the carotid artery; and the auditory, vestibular and facial nerves. For each of these structures, the surface transparency can be individually controlled, thereby revealing the 3-D relations between surface landmarks and underlying structure. New structures of interest can be added within the Amira software. The 3-D surface model can also be "sliced open" at any section, and the appropriate raw histologic image superimposed on the cleavage plane. Leafing through the section stack in this way provides a powerful view of the relation between microscopic images and 3-D anatomy. The image stack can also be re-sectioned in any arbitrary plane. The EPL 3-D viewer software has been tested on Windows XP, Windows 2000, Red Hat Linux 9 and Mac OSX (10.3). The model was made under the supervision of Drs. M. Charles Liberman and Saumil Merchant by Haobing Wang and Clarinda Northrop. Model development was supported by a core grant from the NIDCD (P30 DC05209). -- Tony Miller Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary 243 Charles St, Boston, MA 02114 ajmiller(at)mit.edu | (617) 510-3629 | http://tonymiller.info