Supplementary Material for: Freely-Available, True-Color Volume Rendering Software and Cryohistology Data Sets for Virtual Exploration of the Temporal Bone Anatomy

Background: Cadaveric dissection of temporal bone anatomy is not always possible or feasible in certain educational environments. Volume rendering using CT and/or MRI helps understanding spatial relationships, but they suffer in nonrealistic depictions especially regarding color of anatomical structures. Freely available, nonstained histological data sets and software which are able to render such data sets in realistic color could overcome this limitation and be a very effective teaching tool. Methods: With recent availability of specialized public-domain software, volume rendering of true-color, histological data sets is now possible. We present both feasibility as well as step-by-step instructions to allow processing of publicly available data sets (Visible Female Human and Visible Ear) into easily navigable 3-dimensional models using free software. Results: Example renderings are shown to demonstrate the utility of these free methods in virtual exploration of the complex anatomy of the temporal bone. After exploring the data sets, the Visible Ear appears more natural than the Visible Human. Conclusion: We provide directions for an easy-to-use, open-source software in conjunction with freely available histological data sets. This work facilitates self-education of spatial relationships of anatomical structures inside the human temporal bone as well as it allows exploration of surgical approaches prior to cadaveric testing and/or clinical implementation.

背景：在部分教学场景中，人体颞骨解剖的尸体解剖操作往往难以开展或不具备可行性。利用计算机断层扫描（CT）和/或磁共振成像（MRI）进行的体绘制（Volume Rendering）技术，虽可帮助学习者理解解剖结构的空间关联关系，但在呈现真实感画面方面存在局限，尤其是在解剖结构的色彩还原上表现欠佳。可免费获取的非染色组织学数据集（histological datasets）以及能够对这类数据集进行真实色彩渲染的软件，有望突破上述局限，成为极具实用价值的教学辅助工具。方法：随着专用公有领域软件的面世，如今已可对真彩色组织学数据集开展体绘制操作。本文不仅验证了该方法的可行性，还提供了利用免费软件，将公开可用的数据集（可视女性人体（Visible Female Human）与可视耳部（Visible Ear））处理为可便捷浏览的三维模型（3-dimensional models）的分步操作指南。结果：本文展示了示例渲染成果，以证明这些免费方法在虚拟探索复杂人体颞骨解剖结构方面的实用价值。经浏览数据集后发现，可视耳部数据集的呈现效果较可视女性人体数据集更为自然逼真。结论：本文提供了结合免费可用组织学数据集的易用开源软件（open-source software）使用指引。本研究既可助力学习者自主掌握人体颞骨内部解剖结构的空间关联关系，也可用于在开展尸体解剖试验或临床应用前，对手术入路进行虚拟探索与演练。