Abstract
Problem statement: The mechanism, by which the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) vocalizes, remains unknown because the manatee larynx does not contain true vocal cords. Since sound can be generated when air passes through a narrow respiratory structure we needed to visualize the internal anatomy of manatee respiratory tract to locate any candidate regions for study. Approach: To visualize the internal anatomy of upper and lower manatee respiratory tract we have developed a rapid but accurate method of modeling these structures using liquid silicone. We first tested this technique on the respiratory structure of a cadaver dog and then applied it to two small manatees which had died through natural causes. Incisions were made in the trachea of both dog and manatees and commercially available liquid silicone was then forced into the upper and lower respiratory tracts used a slightly modified common automobile grease gun. The animals were then refrigerated overnight and the silicone was allowed to cure for a period of 24 h. Results: In dog, we removed cured silicone model by applying mild force to it after surgically opening the nasal cavity. In the manatees some dissection was necessary for release of mold from the upper nasal cavity, but only mild force was necessary with no dissection to release silicone model from the lower tract. Because the models created exhibited great accuracy and fine structure, including presence of tertiary bronchi in the manatee respiratory tract, we realized that the technique was applicable for use in other hollow organs. We applied this method to the visualization of internal structure of a fresh beef heart and were pleased with the accuracy and detail of model produced. Conclusion: We suggest that this technique can be adopted for three-dimensional visualization of the internal structure and volume estimation of many hollow organs in a wide variety of organisms with both minimal effort and cost.
Highlights
We first applied this technique to the internal anatomy of the dog respiratory system and discovered that theIn our search for the mechanism by which the technique worked well
Some developed a silicone modeling technique to visualize have reported that the manatee larynx lacks true vocal the internal architecture of hollow biological organs. cords (Murie 1872; Hill, 1945) the animals do
We have developed an effective technique for modeling the internal respiratory structures of both the Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) and the dog
Summary
We first applied this technique to the internal anatomy of the dog respiratory system and discovered that theIn our search for the mechanism by which the technique worked well. We placed the body produced in the silicone models of the manatee in ice for 24 h and after the mixture had set, we respiratory apparatus, we reasoned that this technique dissected the upper respiratory tract and removed the could be universally adaptable for use in other hollow complete silicone mold. We soaked this resulting model biological organs. To demonstrate that this was the case in a dilute solution of Clorox to neutralize any residual we tested it on a fresh bovine heart and were gratified by the excellent and accurate three-dimensional anatomical architecture of the model
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