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Anatomical Atlas

      To give the general public an even easy grasp on this unique anatomical data set from the Visible Human Project, Flashback Imaging has released two commercial CD-ROM titles so far. One, containing a reduced number of images, runs directly from the CD-ROM. For the second, the CD-ROM is the distribution medium for 4.0 Gbytes of imagery and ancillary data (Figure 7) (Figure 8). Both CD's contain a linked database of 1,500 identified anatomical structure names of the Visible Man.

      In each case the system allows the user to randomly select a structure name from a list of over 1,500 names and immediately see the three axial, coronal and sagittal views on separate windows (Figure 2). The user can choose to animate the entire data set or just the images bounded by an anatomical structure. Animation can be done in any one of the three views. In reverse, the user can also be given the names of the structures as he moves a cross hair over an image (Figure 4) (Figure 5)(Figure 6). The design of the system allows the user to quickly switch between many different languages. Currently, English and Japanese are available (Figure 3). Other languages can be easily added.

      After the ability to link a voxel to a muscle name with a simple click, the next priority often mentioned by hospital radiologists was the ability to switch immediately to other views of an anatomical structure. Also important is the ability to quickly move in any of the three directions to help them determine the proper structure compared to the unusual view they are often presented with from an emergency room X-ray. This will be a valuable addition to the two or three paper hardcopy anatomical atlases they normally keep at hand.


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