A Practical Workflow for Making Anatomical Atlases for Biological Research

The anatomical atlas has been at the intersection of science and art for centuries. These atlases are essential to biological research, but high-quality atlases are often scarce. Recent advances in imaging technology have made high-quality 3D atlases possible. However, until now there has been a lack of practical workflows using standard tools to generate atlases from images of biological samples. With certain adaptations, CG artists´ workflow and tools, traditionally used in the film industry, are practical for building high-quality biological atlases. Researchers have developed a workflow for generating a 3D anatomical atlas using accessible artists´ tools. They used this workflow to build a mouse limb atlas for studying the musculoskeletal system´s development. This research aims to raise the awareness of using artists´ tools in scientific research and promote interdisciplinary collaborations between artists and scientists. This video (http://youtu.be/g61C-nia9ms) demonstrates a workflow for creating an anatomical atlas.