Computer-aided three-dimensional reconstruction and measurement of the vestibular end-organs

Abstract

It is very valuable for temporal bone morphologists to be able to recognize temporal bone serial sections in three dimensions and to be able to measure temporal bone structures three-dimensionally. We can now do 3-dimensional reconstruction to visualize the structures of vestibular endorgans (utricular and saccular maculae) and measure these endorgans in space by means of a small computer system and software that we developed. As well as obtaining the dimensions--such as length and area--of the utricular and saccular maculae, we also found that (1) most of the utricular macula lies in one plane, which is the same as the plane of the lateral semicircular canal, (2) the saccular macula is shaped like part of a sphere, and (3) the angle between the two maculae is less than a right angle. Such knowledge is indispensable to the evaluation of the function of the utricular and saccular maculae.