Interactive Brain Atlas

Description: This CD-ROM is a product of the Digital Anatomist Program at the University of Washington. The long term goals of the Program are to build a knowledge base in anatomy, and to develop the methods for representing, storing and distributing anatomical information relevant to solving problems in biomedical education, research and patient care. The Interactive Brain Atlas presents computer generated, dynamic 3-D reconstructions of the brain and its component parts, sets of 2-D images of whole and sectioned brains and MRI scans. The 3-D computer graphics models are reassembled from digitalised serial slices of a cadaver brain, and from serial MRI scans of the brain of a living subject. The presentation of the anatomical data is unique, in that it displays spatial interrelationships between gross anatomical brain structures, and nuclei and tracts, in ways that are not possible to achieve by dissection or by current imaging technology. Although the Interactive Brain Atlas is designed primarily to enhance professional courses on the nervous system, its contents and presentation make it a valuable resource in undergraduate education, as well as in postgraduate training in various medical disciplines and related subspecialities. The Atlas is explicitly designed to promote individual, independent study of the brain. ORGANIZATION: The Interactive Brain Atlas is organized into sixteen chapters, which present the anatomy of the neuraxis displayed by various computer visualization techniques. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the brain account for a large portion of the contents. The user can interact both with still frames of these reconstructions or with the animations. The brain and its component parts are rotated, translated, rendered transparent, and surfaces peeled back to reveal internal structures. Many pathways are animated between structures they connect. Other chapters present surface and sectional views of the brain and spinal cord, as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the head. Brain components are defined by hidden contours (buttons) on selected still frames of the animations and also on the anatomical and MRI sections. These active areas make it possible for the user to display names of structures or to be questioned as to their identity. One may navigate between 2-D and 3-D images by clicking on icons and menu items, thereby correlating the size, shape and spatial relations of sectioned objects with their 3-D anatomy at different levels of the neuraxis. The film sequences may be either accessed from the buttoned objects in the 2-D images or by a click on the appropriate icon.

Comments & References: Single copy of the CD-ROM: Product number DC 02; Group orders within institution only: Product number DC 02a; Site License: Product number DC 02b. When ordered, please specify Windows or Macintosh version.

Computer type: IBM, Macintosh

Price: CD-ROM: US$200.00 (single copy). Quantities of 10 or more copies: US$90.00/copy (for group orders within institution only); Site License (for use within institution only): US$1,000

Version: 1994