Manufacture of the Serially Sectioned Images of the Whole Body (First Report: Methods for Embedding and Serial Sectioning)

Abstract

Serially sectioned images (MR, CT, and anatomical images) of the whole body are helpful in anatomy education because three dimensional images can be reconstructed with the serially sectioned images, and then the three dimensional images can be sectioned and rotated. To make the most important anatomical images of the serially sectioned images, the cadaver's whole body should be embedded, frozen, and serially sectioned to make sectioned surfaces. In this study, to make the sectioned surfaces better than the Visible Human Project dataset, the equipments and techniques have been developed as follows. First, the equipments (embedding box, freezer) and techniques for embedding and freezing of the cadaver's whole body have been developed. Second, the equipments (cryomacrotome) and techniques for serial sectioning of the embedding box at 0.2 mm intervals have been developed. By using these equipments and techniques, the sectioned surfaces with good quality could be made at 0.2 mm intervals. The anatomical images made of the sectioned surfaces will be the basis for making better three dimensional images which are more helpful in anatomy education.