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3D-printer visualization of neuron models

Neurons come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. In a quest to understand this neuronal diversity, researchers have three-dimensionally traced tens of thousands of neurons; many of these tracings are freely available through online repositories like NeuroMorpho.Org and ModelDB. Tracings can be vi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: McDougal, Robert A., Shepherd, Gordon M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4485057/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26175684
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fninf.2015.00018
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author McDougal, Robert A.
Shepherd, Gordon M.
author_facet McDougal, Robert A.
Shepherd, Gordon M.
author_sort McDougal, Robert A.
collection PubMed
description Neurons come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. In a quest to understand this neuronal diversity, researchers have three-dimensionally traced tens of thousands of neurons; many of these tracings are freely available through online repositories like NeuroMorpho.Org and ModelDB. Tracings can be visualized on the computer screen, used for statistical analysis of the properties of different cell types, used to simulate neuronal behavior, and more. We introduce the use of 3D printing as a technique for visualizing traced morphologies. Our method for generating printable versions of a cell or group of cells is to expand dendrite and axon diameters and then to transform the tracing into a 3D object with a neuronal surface generating algorithm like Constructive Tessellated Neuronal Geometry (CTNG). We show that 3D printed cells can be readily examined, manipulated, and compared with other neurons to gain insight into both the biology and the reconstruction process. We share our printable models in a new database, 3DModelDB, and encourage others to do the same with cells that they generate using our code or other methods. To provide additional context, 3DModelDB provides a simulatable version of each cell, links to papers that use or describe it, and links to associated entries in other databases.
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spelling pubmed-44850572015-07-14 3D-printer visualization of neuron models McDougal, Robert A. Shepherd, Gordon M. Front Neuroinform Neuroscience Neurons come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. In a quest to understand this neuronal diversity, researchers have three-dimensionally traced tens of thousands of neurons; many of these tracings are freely available through online repositories like NeuroMorpho.Org and ModelDB. Tracings can be visualized on the computer screen, used for statistical analysis of the properties of different cell types, used to simulate neuronal behavior, and more. We introduce the use of 3D printing as a technique for visualizing traced morphologies. Our method for generating printable versions of a cell or group of cells is to expand dendrite and axon diameters and then to transform the tracing into a 3D object with a neuronal surface generating algorithm like Constructive Tessellated Neuronal Geometry (CTNG). We show that 3D printed cells can be readily examined, manipulated, and compared with other neurons to gain insight into both the biology and the reconstruction process. We share our printable models in a new database, 3DModelDB, and encourage others to do the same with cells that they generate using our code or other methods. To provide additional context, 3DModelDB provides a simulatable version of each cell, links to papers that use or describe it, and links to associated entries in other databases. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-06-30 /pmc/articles/PMC4485057/ /pubmed/26175684 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fninf.2015.00018 Text en Copyright © 2015 McDougal and Shepherd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
McDougal, Robert A.
Shepherd, Gordon M.
3D-printer visualization of neuron models
title 3D-printer visualization of neuron models
title_full 3D-printer visualization of neuron models
title_fullStr 3D-printer visualization of neuron models
title_full_unstemmed 3D-printer visualization of neuron models
title_short 3D-printer visualization of neuron models
title_sort 3d-printer visualization of neuron models
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4485057/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26175684
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fninf.2015.00018
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