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The Extraocular Nerves & Vasculature project has produced a 3-dimensional model of the nerves, arteries and veins in the region surrounding the human eye. Using Apple's QuickTime™ VR (QTVR) technology and custom thin-slice reconstruction techniques (described below), we have created a model that accurately reflects the data upon which it is based, and presents it in a way which invites exploration of the three-dimensional relationships of the structures. We believe this is the first time that extraocular nerves, arteries, and veins have been reconstructed using computer methods, free of artistic interpretation.
QTVR allows virtual 3D objects (which in the present case represent real objects) to be manipulated in an intuitive fashion. Each QTVR object consists of one or more sets of 2D frames, each set depicting the range of views of the real object you might get by turning it around in your hands. Different sets can show different view states of the object (showing or suppressing contextual objects, for example). QTVR objects can be linked together, and to online content, creating a QTVR scene. Users navigate among the objects of a QTVR scene by clicking hotspots.
Each of our QTVR objects consists of a full "toroidal" set of frames from 680 different points of view, separated by 10 horizontally and 9.5 vertically. Each view has two states: with the mouse button up, all structures are visible; with the mouse button down the muscles, globe and optic nerve are suppressed to make the structures of main interest more salient. We created 4 major objects, showing nerves, arteries, veins, and the combination of all 3, respectively. For the nerves, arteries and veins objects, we also created minor objects, which isolate parts of the major object (eg: the lateral rectus muscle and the arteries that supply it). Minor objects are accessed through hotspots in the front view of the corresponding major object. All of these objects have been combined to create one QTVR scene, called Extraocular Nerves & Vasculature 1.0
The full scene, and even the individual objects, are too large to download, and therefore are distributed on DVD-ROM (see below). To get a sense of manipulating these objects, download the previews below. Each preview contains only 25 frames (and so can only be rotated a bit in each of 8 directions), is downsized to 512 x 384 px, and compressed (JPEG). The 2 view states are shown for each object.
Nerves (1.2MB) |
Arteries (1.4MB) |
Veins (1.1MB) |
QuickTime™ Player or plug-in is required |
Click below for sample frames at full resolution (1024 x 768 px), albeit JPEG compressed for faster download.
 
Nerves, Arteries, and Veins combined. |
 
Nerves only. |
 
Arteries only. |
 
Veins only. |
Purchase Extraocular Nerves & Vasculature 1.0 on DVD.
Our specimen was obtained from a 17-month-old male victim of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The whole head was frozen, bone was removed mechanically and residua decalcified. The sample was stained with fluorscein to improve contrast of the paraffin-embedded tissue, and the tissue block was sectioned perpendicular to the orbital axis.
The block face was digitally photographed at 200 m intervals at a spatial resolution of 520 pixels/cm and color resolution of 24 bits/pixel, yielding a series of "block-face images". These were corrected for embedding distortions, based on MRI data collected prior to exenteration. Slices of thickness 10 m were cut from the tissue block, stained with Masons trichrome (to highlight muscle and collagen), mounted and digitally photographed, yielding a set of "thin-slice images".
Custom software was used to outline arteries, veins and nerves on the block face images (MOV, 3.7MB), with the aid of the corresponding stained thin-slice images, and standard anatomic references, such as Dutton & Waldrop (1994). The resulting "ring model" was exported from our custom software as a 3dmf and was imported into 3d modeling software (Strata 3Dpro™) for refinement and rendering. Apple's QuickTime™ VR Authoring Studio was used to create each 3D object and then to assemble the objects into the final QTVR scenes.
These models are based on tissue slices from only one cadaver, and some smaller structures may not have been identified.
Block Face Image (MOV, 3.7MB) |
Thin-slice Image |
Thin-slice Software |
3dmf Model |
Strata 3Dpro™ |
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