Macroscopic cryosectioning: A simple new method for producing digital, three-dimensional databases in veterinary anatomy

Using a new method derived from the 'visible human project' (Spitzer et al. , 1996, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 3, 118-130) , we were able to establish a simple and low-cost tool which produces high- quality cryosections of macroscopic specimens down to l-mm slice thickness, based on a milling process. For the first time, a macroscopic cryotome is available to veterinary anatomists, which can be used on cutting faces up t o 25 cm high and 50 cm wide and with a minimal slice thickness of 1 mm with out any gap. The method employs a modified wood circular saw. Recording of the cutting faces is carried out 'online' by a high-resolution digital came ra. The process has been tested extensively and produces high-quality secti ons of very hard material (teeth) as well as of very soft tissues (brain). It is now possible in veterinary medicine to provide three-dimensional anat omical databases of high resolution and of tissue-specific colour as an add itional tool for high-quality two- and three-dimensional anatomical reconst ructions for use in science and education.