Walking through a Human Ear

Abstract

A computer animation system was developed to show the inside of a human ear as if the viewer were walking through it. A surface model of the human temporal bone was graphically reconstructed from serially sectioned celloidin specimens. In order to input the outline curves of ear structures, several reference marks were drilled into a celloidin block prior to sectioning. A sliding microtome was put on a worktable with a specially designed motor-driven drill. The machine made it possible to drill holes perpendicular to the plane to be used for serial sectioning. Superimposed outline curves and the reference marks were fed into a computer, and their shapes were altered by scaling, rotation, and translation before triangulation for surface coating. Parts of the structures of the ear were painted in different colours.