COMPUTER-AIDED 3-DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION IN HUMAN COCHLEAR MAPS - MEASUREMENT OF THE LENGTHS OF ORGAN OF CORTI, OUTER WALL, INNER WALL, AND ROSENTHALS CANAL

This paper describes the application of computer-aided three-dimension al reconstruction to measurements of the length of the organ of Corti (mean+/-SD, 35.58+/-1.41 mm), scala tympani outer wall (40.81+/-1.97 m m), scala tympani inner wall (18.29+/-1.47 mm), and Rosenthal's canal center (15.98+/-1.33 mm) in eight adult male cochleas. The Rosenthal's canal center ranged between 13/4 and 2 turns, did not appear to be li nearly related to the organ of Corti, and lay near the basal end of th e latter. The length of the organ of Corti measured with three-dimensi onal reconstruction differed by 7.6%+/-3.2% (''cutting angle differenc e'') from that derived from traditional two-dimensional reconstruction on the plane perpendicular to the plane of section, and by 2.6%+/-1.7 % (''geometric difference'') from that derived from two-dimensional re construction on the axial plane at right angles to the modiolar axis.