Montage: a system for three-dimensional reconstruction by personal computer

This paper describes a simplified system for serial section three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction. A set of 9 software programs runs on a standard personal computer and produces camera-ready illustrations suitable for publication. The user enters trace points on a digitizing tablet from sections that have been already aligned. A 3-D view of the reconstructed object is generated which can be displayed with hidden lines removed. Analysis of volume, surface area and autoradiographic grain density are performed automatically. A relational database query language allows display and analysis of a selected subset of the data. The system runs under the UNIX operating system which allows the programs to be easily transported to new hardware or modified for other purposes.

[1]  C. Levinthal,et al.  Three-dimensional computer reconstruction of neurons and neuronal assemblies. , 1979, Annual review of biophysics and bioengineering.

[2]  P Sterling,et al.  Rod bipolar array in the cat retina: Pattern of input from rods and GABA‐accumulating amacrine cells , 1987, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[3]  P. Sterling,et al.  Microcircuitry of beta ganglion cells in cat retina , 1986, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[4]  Donald J. Woodward,et al.  A general system for computer based acquisition, analysis and display of medical image data , 1982, ACM '82.

[5]  P Sterling,et al.  Microcircuitry of the dark-adapted cat retina: functional architecture of the rod-cone network , 1986, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[6]  P Sterling,et al.  Microcircuitry of bipolar cells in cat retina , 1984, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[7]  Arthur H. Veen,et al.  TROTS: A computer graphics system for three-dimensional reconstruction from serial sections , 1977, Comput. Graph..

[8]  Peter Sterling,et al.  A systematic approach to reconstructing microcircuitry by electron microscopy of serial sections , 1980, Brain Research Reviews.

[9]  Thomas W. Sederberg,et al.  Conversion of complex contour line definitions into polygonal element mosaics , 1978, SIGGRAPH.

[10]  J. J. Capowski,et al.  A simple hidden line removal algorithm for serial section reconstruction , 1985, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[11]  Henry Fuchs,et al.  Optimal surface reconstruction from planar contours , 1977, CACM.

[12]  CYRUS LEVINTHAL,et al.  Three Dimensional Reconstruction from Serial Sections , 1972, Nature.

[13]  R. Ranney Mize,et al.  A simple microcomputer-based three-dimensional serial section reconstruction system (MICROS) , 1983, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.