Visualizing Human Embryonic Development of the Heart’s Outflow Tract

Abstract

Data from the Virtual Human Embryo Project, a digital image database of serially sectioned human embryos from the Carnegie collection, was used to visualize and create 3D reconstructions of multiple embryonic stages. Using these reconstructions as references, 3D morphing animations were created and compiled into a 3D interactive learning tool. This learning tool allows the user to visualize and interact with the developing heart’s outow tract in 3-dimensions as the embryo undergoes complex morphological changes during Carnegie Stages 13-23. This learning and teaching tool ensbled medical students studying embryology and anatomy to understand how the heart’s outow tract develops, thereby clarifying their relationships to structures seen in adult anatomy.