ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the evidence for the morphologic comparability between the meridians and interstitial connective tissues in the lower limb with auto-marked and 3D-Rebuilding technology. Methods First,the muscles were extracted and noise was eliminated;With edge detection a convex hull of the muscles edge was found;The interstitial connective tissue points were marked in the cross section images of left leg from the digital dataset of Virtual Chinese Human-Male1(VCH-M1).Finally,the auto-marked images were reconstructed with 3D-Doctor. Results The reconstructed meridians in the lower limb auto-marked with computer procedures tallied basically with the meridians and collaterals recorded in Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) illustrative graphics.Conclusion Having the advantages of digital anatomic study on acupuncture points earlier and mature 3D-Rebuilding techniques,the department of Anatomy of South Medical University cooperated with the Department of Scientific Calculation and Computer Application of Sun Yat-sen University to devise a set of computer programs which could be used to AutoMark interstitial connective tissues in Virtual Human lower limbs and then reconstruct virtual fascia meridians which corresponded with the TCM records.This method avoided man-made error to a certain degree in the process of recognizing and rebuilding of fascias.The study is significant to explore the morphologic comparability between the meridians and collaterals and interstitial connective tissues in human lower limb.