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Macroscopic Cryosectioning: A Simple New Method for Producing Digital, Three‐Dimensional Databases in Veterinary Anatomy
Author(s) -
B P.,
öttcher .,
Maierl J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
anatomia, histologia, embryologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.34
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1439-0264
pISSN - 0340-2096
DOI - 10.1046/j.1439-0264.1999.00171.x
Subject(s) - simple (philosophy) , database , computer science , anatomy , biology , epistemology , philosophy
Using a new method derived from the ‘visible human project’ (Spitzer et al., 1996, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 3, 118–130), we were able to establish a simple and low‐cost tool which produces high‐quality cryosections of macroscopic specimens down to 1‐mm slice thickness, based on a milling process. For the first time, a macroscopic cryotome is available to veterinary anatomists, which can be used on cutting faces up to 25 cm high and 50 cm wide and with a minimal slice thickness of 1 mm without any gap. The method employs a modified wood circular saw. Recording of the cutting faces is carried out ‘online’ by a high‐resolution digital camera. The process has been tested extensively and produces high‐quality sections of very hard material (teeth) as well as of very soft tissues (brain). It is now possible in veterinary medicine to provide three‐dimensional anatomical databases of high resolution and of tissue‐specific colour as an additional tool for high‐quality two‐ and three‐dimensional anatomical reconstructions for use in science and education.