Kaufman M H, Brune R M, Davidson D R, Baldock R A
Department of Anatomy, University Medical School, Edinburgh, UK.
J Anat. 1998 Oct;193 ( Pt 3)(Pt 3):323-36. doi: 10.1046/j.1469-7580.1998.19330323.x.
We have been involved with a group of computer scientists and anatomists in the development of computer-based methodologies that not only combine the advantages of scanning electron microscopy and conventional histology, but provide the additional dimension of tissue recognition. The latter is achieved by the appropriate labelling of tissues and structures by delineation or 'painting'. Individually segmented anatomically defined tissues can be highlighted in a particular colour and viewed either in isolation or in combination with other appropriately labelled tissues and organs. Tissues can be shown in any orientation either as a transparent overlay on computer-generated histological sections or as 3-D images without the histological background. An additional feature of the system is that computer graphics technology combined with 3-D glasses now also allows the viewer to see the object under analysis in stereo. This facility has been found to be particularly helpful in drawing attention to topological relationships that had not previously been readily noted. As the mouse is now the mammalian model of choice in many areas of developmental research, it is of critical importance that a basic level of skill is available in the research community in the interpretation of serially sectioned material, for example, for the rapidly expanding field in which gene expression studies play a significant role. It is equally important that there is an understanding of the dynamic changes that occur in relation to the differentiation of the various organ systems seen in these early stages of development. What we emphasise here is the additional information that it is possible to gain from the use of this tool which, in our view, could not readily have been gained from the analysis of scanning electron micrographs or by studying conventional serial histological sections of similar stages of mouse embryonic development. The methodology has been developed as part of a large project to prepare a database of mouse developmental anatomy covering all stages from fertilisation to birth in order to allow the accurate spatial mapping of gene expression and cell lineage data onto the digital Atlas of normal mouse development. In this paper we show how this digital anatomical Atlas also represents a valuable teaching aid and research tool in anatomy.
我们与一群计算机科学家和解剖学家合作，致力于开发基于计算机的方法，这种方法不仅结合了扫描电子显微镜和传统组织学的优势，还提供了组织识别的额外维度。后者是通过对组织和结构进行适当的标记来实现的，即通过描绘或“绘制”。单独分割的解剖学定义组织可以用特定颜色突出显示，既可以单独查看，也可以与其他适当标记的组织和器官组合查看。组织可以以任何方向显示，既可以作为计算机生成的组织学切片上的透明叠加层，也可以作为没有组织学背景的三维图像。该系统的另一个特点是，计算机图形技术与3D眼镜相结合，现在还允许观察者以立体方式查看正在分析的对象。人们发现，这种功能在吸引人们注意以前未被轻易注意到的拓扑关系方面特别有帮助。由于小鼠现在是许多发育研究领域中首选的哺乳动物模型，因此研究界具备解读连续切片材料的基本技能至关重要，例如对于基因表达研究发挥重要作用的快速发展领域而言。同样重要的是，要了解在发育早期阶段各种器官系统分化过程中发生的动态变化。我们在此强调的是，使用这个工具可以获得额外的信息，在我们看来，这些信息无法轻易地从扫描电子显微镜照片分析或通过研究小鼠胚胎发育相似阶段的传统连续组织学切片中获得。该方法是作为一个大型项目的一部分开发的，旨在建立一个涵盖从受精到出生所有阶段的小鼠发育解剖学数据库，以便将基因表达和细胞谱系数据准确地映射到正常小鼠发育的数字图谱上。在本文中，我们展示了这个数字解剖图谱如何也代表了解剖学中一种有价值的教学辅助工具和研究工具。
