IDBR: Hardware and Software Development for 3D Visualization of Rapid Skeletal Motion in Vertebrate Animals

该奖项是为了开发用于脊椎动物快速骨骼运动的3D可视化仪器。它的两个主要组件是（1）高速双平面X射线透视系统和（2）通过将3D CT骨骼模型与成对的2D X射线图像对齐来实现精确的3D骨骼动画的自动化软件。其结果将是一个实质性的进步，目前可用于脊椎动物功能形态学和生物力学研究的技术。 我们的目标是使动态3D骨骼成像成为一种负担得起的和广泛可用的技术。高速、双平面X射线和3D可视化软件的新组合被命名为“CTX成像”。“脊椎动物功能形态学是生物体生物学的一个活跃和不断发展的子领域，其中研究了解剖形式和生物力学功能之间的机械和进化关系。例如，袋鼠跳跃时长腱作为弹簧的作用，嘴的大小和形状对鱼类吮吸的影响，以及“叉骨”在鸟类飞行中的功能，都在过去20年中被功能形态学家解释。功能形态学的新发现一直受到新技术的推动，如高速摄像机，肌电图，测力板和数字粒子图像测速仪。动物的自然运动几乎总是发生在3D中，并且通常非常快。在3D中量化快速骨骼运动将是一种将形式与功能联系起来的强大技术，但功能形态学家还没有在3D中测量骨骼运动的技术。皮肤上的外部标记的移动通常用作骨骼移动的代理，但是皮肤通常是松散的，并且标记不能很好地跟踪骨骼。CT扫描的CTX分析加上两个X射线电影将产生骨骼元素在空间中移动的高度精确的3D动画。这些将不仅仅是简笔画-每个骨骼的完整3D形态将通过这种技术精确地呈现和动画。双平面X射线成像和CTX分析将使研究骨骼运动学的各个方面成为可能，这些方面在很大程度上是其他技术无法达到的，例如骨骼的长轴旋转，小动物细骨的假定弯曲，以及关节关节面的相对3D运动。CTX将为肌肉骨骼模型的输入提供更准确的数据，例如逆动力学和神经控制模型的关节角度。这是一个跨学科的建议结合了两个功能形态学家的专业知识（布雷纳德和盖茨）谁拥有丰富的经验与动态X射线成像的动物运动和计算机科学家（莱德劳）谁专门建立计算工具，以加速科学，特别强调科学可视化工具。三-根据该奖项开发的仪器将使脊椎动物骨骼快速运动的三维可视化成为可能。 CTX成像，使这种仪器，将开辟新的研究领域，在脊椎动物的功能形态，如三维关节生物力学的比较研究。用CTX开发的动画将是强大的科学工具，但它们也将是可访问的，并吸引公众。这些动画将尽可能用于提高对基础研究的欣赏。

This award is for the development of instrumentation for 3D visualization of rapid skeletal motion in vertebrates. Its two primary components are (1) a high-speed, biplane X-ray fluoroscopy system and (2) automated software for precise, 3D skeletal animation by aligning 3D CT bone models with pairs of 2D X-ray images. The result will be a substantial advance over technology that is currently available for research in vertebrate functional morphology and biomechanics. The objective is to make dynamic 3D skeletal imaging an affordable and widely available technique. The new combination of high-speed, biplane X-ray and 3D visualization software is named "CTX imaging." Vertebrate functional morphology is an active and growing subfield of organismal biology in which the mechanical and evolutionary relationships between anatomical form and biomechanical function are investigated. For example, the action of long tendons as springs in kangaroo hopping, the effect of mouth size and shape on suction feeding in fish, and the function of the "wishbone" in bird flight have all been explained in the past two decades by functional morphologists. New discoveries in functional morphology have consistently been driven by the introduction of new technologies, such as high-speed cameras, electromyography, force plates and digital particle image velocimetry. Natural movements in animals almost always occur in 3D and often are very fast. Quantification of rapid skeletal movement in 3D would be a powerful technique for relating form to function, but functional morphologists have had no technique for measuring bone movements in 3D. The movement of external markers on the skin is generally used as a proxy for skeletal movement, but skin is often loose and the markers do not track the skeleton well. CTX analysis of a CT scan plus two X-ray movies will produce a highly accurate 3D animation of skeletal elements moving in space. These will be more than stick figures -- the complete 3D morphology of each bone will be present and animated precisely with this technique. Biplane X-ray imaging and CTX analysis will make it possible to study aspects of skeletal kinematics that are largely inaccessible with other techniques, such as long axis rotation of bones, putative bending of fine bones in small animals, and the relative 3D motions of the articular surfaces of joints. CTX will provide more accurate data for input into musculoskeletal models, such as joint angles for inverse dynamics and neural control models. This is an interdisciplinary proposal combining the expertise of two functional morphologists (Brainerd and Gatesy) who have extensive experience with dynamic X-ray imaging of animal movement and a computer scientist (Laidlaw) who specializes in building computational tools for accelerating science, with particular emphasis on scientific visualization tools.Three-dimensional visualization of rapid skeletal motion in vertebrates will be possible with instrumentation to be developed under this award. CTX imaging, made possible with this instrumentation, will open up new areas of research in vertebrate functional morphology, such as the comparative study of 3D joint biomechanics. The animations developed with CTX will be powerful scientific tools, but they will also be accessible and appealing to the general public. These animations will be used to increase appreciation for basic research whenever possible.