Laser confocal microscopy and geographic information systems in the study of dental morphology
| Autor: | Lena Selänne, Jukka Jernvall |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1999 |
| Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
0303 health sciences Microscope Geographic information system Landmark business.industry Confocal Oceanography Laser 01 natural sciences law.invention stomatognathic diseases 03 medical and health sciences Software Geography stomatognathic system law Confocal microscopy Computer vision Artificial intelligence business Digital elevation model Cartography 030304 developmental biology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Palaeontologia Electronica. |
| ISSN: | 1094-8074 |
| DOI: | 10.26879/99003 |
| Popis: | The advent of computers has allowed the use of new analytical methods while the nature and methods of original data acquisition have seen fewer changes. Most analytical methods rely on landmark data that can be easily recorded from teeth. The choice of landmarks, however, may limit the scope of a study as decisions on data collection have to be made prior to recording the landmarks. Here we present a method to record and analyze tooth crown morphology of small teeth with almost no loss of shape information. Epoxy resin casts with eosin dye are optically sectioned with 25-100 µm intervals using a laser confocal microscope with fluorescence detection. Alternatively, original specimens of Recent teeth can often be optically sectioned in reflective light mode. High-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) of tooth crowns are produced from the image stacks using the 3Dview version of the NIH-Image software (MacOS). Digital elevation models can be transferred to Geographic Information System (GIS) software as well as interpreted by surface rendering computer programs. All traditional morphometrical measurements can be obtained from DEMs. However, the total shape data (i.e., DEMs) can be explored with GIS prior to the selection of appropriate measurements. Furthermore, as the DEMs can be stored as a museum database of tooth morphologies, the three-dimensional morphology can be accessed remotely via the Web, reducing the need to visit museum collections or borrow specimens. This confocal scanning method is well-suited for large samples of small teeth and other small fossils. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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