A versatile digital brain atlas will be constructed by combining a number of technologies. These include techniques for accurately assembling 2D information into 3D structures, 3D visualization and fly through, reslicing the 3D digital brain in arbitrary orientation, linking databases to objects in a 3D model and retrieving information from heterogeneous databases. In addition, techniques for warping brain slices and 3D structures onto each other will be developed in order to make comparisons between sexes, age groups, and species. The team of CHI Systems and Drexel University has experience with all of these techniques and is in a unique position to do the research and integration with off-the-shelf components required to construct a rodent brain atlas. The Drexel Computer Vision Center for Vertebrate Brain Mapping has already assembled a sequence of 42 micron thick slices into a digital 3D model of a rat, and has begun investigating techniques for brain warping. Researchers at CHI Systems have constructed intelligent interfaces for database storage and retrieval, and have worked with a variety of 3D visualization and Geographic Information Systems.
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