Lawrence M. Witmer, PhD
Professor of Anatomy
Chang Professor of Paleontology

Dept. of Biomedical Sciences
Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Life Science Building, Rm 123
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701 USA

Email: witmerL@ohio.edu

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Common Language Summary
The
Visible Interactive Opossum. This page presents our work on the 3D anatomical structure of the Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana . Since we’re not currently doing real research on opossum anatomy—we just used these long-deceased specimens in experiments to hone a technique— we’re giving all the data away…free and open-access! These resources are outgrowths of our more technical work and are intended to serve as STEM educational aids for K-12 and undergraduate students, but we provide the full µCT-scan datasets for use by researchers. Our featured specimens are two approximately 21-day-old opossum pouch young (OUVC 10713 and OUVC 10716). Formalin-fixed specimens were soaked in 20% sucrose solution for 24 hours and then were submerged in 1.25% iodine Lugol’s solution for 48 hours. They were then scanned on the OUµCT scanner at a resolution of 45 µm (0.045 mm). Slice movies were produced in Avizo 7.1. Movies were edited in QuickTime 7.7.3 and Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. The work on this project was done by Ashley Morhardt as part of her doctoral dissertation in the WitmerLab. Ashley developed these resources as part of an ongoing effort to visualize soft-tissue anatomy in CT data using a pre-scan bath of Lugol’s iodine solution (iodine potassium iodide — I2KI). During pre-scan baths, specimens are soaked in iodine solution, allowing iodine (radiopaque halogen) atoms to diffuse from the solution and into a specimen’s soft tissues, making them visible on scan data. Content for this site includes DICOM data for both specimens, slice movies for OUVC 10713, and a 3D PDF of a skeleton scanned prior to immersion in Lugol’s iodine.

Check out our other Visible Interactive Anatomy sites! 

FREE, OPEN-ACCESS µCT SCAN DATA

Download the raw DICOM scan data for two specimens of the same age.
Note these are large ZIP files that will expand to 400-500 MB: OUVC 10713 (256 MB) OUVC 10716 (295 MB)

3D PDFs
Videos
3D PDFs allow anyone with even the free Acrobat Reader to interactively manipulate the 3D models that we generate with powerful software like Avizo. The skeleton can be spun around, made transparent, hidden, etc. The files can even be saved to your local computer. We provide the 3D PDF in different resolutions and files sizes to match your interest and the power of your computer. View our mini-tutorial.
NOTE: Bugs in many browsers prevent them from running 3D PDFs in a browser window, so please save it to your system and then launch it.

3D PDF of the skeleton of ~21-day pouch young of skull a two-month-old Virginia opossum ( Didelphis virginiana , OUVC 10713) derived from a µCT-scan of the specimen prior to immersion in Lugol's solution.
Download a 27 MB 3D PDF LARGE
Download a 15 MB 3D PDF MEDIUM
Download an 8.5 MB 3D PDF SMALL

Videos

Transverse slice animation of head anatomy. Animation of transverse microCT slices through a pouch young of a Virginia opossum ( Didelphis virginiana , OUVC 10713). This specimen is a ~21-day-old joey that was fixed in formalin, immersed in a solution of iodine potassium iodide (25% Lugol's) to provide soft-tissue resolution, and then microCT-scanned at 45 µm. The 3D visualization work was done in Avizo, QuickTime, and Adobe Premiere by Ashley Morhardt.
Download a 48 MB QuickTime version (HD: 1920x1080)
Download a 20 MB QuickTime version (1280x720)
Download a 10 MB QuickTime version (853x480 )
Download a 6 MB QuickTime version (640x360)

Horizontal slice animation of head anatomy. Animation of horizontal microCT slices through a pouch young of a Virginia opossum ( Didelphis virginiana , OUVC 10713). This specimen is a ~21-day-old joey that was fixed in formalin, immersed in a solution of iodine potassium iodide (25% Lugol's) to provide soft-tissue resolution, and then microCT-scanned at 45 µm. The 3D visualization work was done in Avizo, QuickTime, and Adobe Premiere by Ashley Morhardt.
Download a 30 MB QuickTime version (HD: 1920x1080)
Download a 14 MB QuickTime version (1280x720)
Download a 7 MB QuickTime version (853x480)
Download a 4.3 MB QuickTime version (640x360)
Slice animation of head anatomy. Animation of microCT slices through a pouch young of a Virginia opossum ( Didelphis virginiana , OUVC 10713). This specimen is a ~21-day-old joey that was fixed in formalin, immersed in a solution of iodine potassium iodide (25% Lugol's) to provide soft-tissue resolution, and then microCT-scanned at 45 µm. The animation runs through slices in all three planes, first through the horizontal plane, followed by transverse and then sagittal slices. The 3D visualization work was done in Avizo, QuickTime, and Adobe Premiere by Ashley Morhardt. Note: this movie basically includes the content of the other three slice movies, putting it all together in one place.
Download a 65 MB QuickTime version (HD: 1920x1080)
Download a 32 MB QuickTime version (1280x720)
Download a 17 MB QuickTime version (853x480)
Download an 11 MB QuickTime version (640x360)

Sagittal slice animation of head anatomy. Animation of sagittal microCT slices through a pouch young of a Virginia opossum ( Didelphis virginiana , OUVC 10713). This specimen is a ~21-day-old joey that was fixed in formalin, immersed in a solution of iodine potassium iodide (25% Lugol's) to provide soft-tissue resolution, and then microCT-scanned at 45 µm. The 3D visualization work was done in Avizo, QuickTime, and Adobe Premiere by Ashley Morhardt.
Download a 20 MB QuickTime version (HD: 1920x1080)
Download a 9 MB QuickTime version (1280x720)
Download a 4.6 MB QuickTime version (853x480)
Download a 3 MB QuickTime version (640x360)

Witmer is responsible for the content of the website. Content provided here is for educational and research purposes only, and may not be used for any commercial purpose without the permission of L. M. Witmer and other relevant parties.

This project was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation .

Ohio University
Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Irvine Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701
740-593-2530 740-597-2778 fax

Last updated:10/25/2016

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