The micro reconstruction of a three-dimensional model of the ovary

Jiannan Liu¹, Yan Liu², Yulian Shi¹, Jiaxuan Liu¹, Xiangtian Li³, Yanbing Li¹, Jun Ouyang¹*, Jingxing Dai¹

¹Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Digital Medicine and Biomechanics & Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Translation of Medical ³D Printing Application & National Virtual & Reality Experimental Education Center for Medical Morphology (Southern Medical University) & National Key Discipline of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China; ²Department of Anatomy, Gannan Healthcare Vocational College, Ganzhou, China ;³The Second Clinical Medical College, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

Objective: We obtained continuous slices of ovarian tissue to develop a micro-reconstruction three-dimensional (3D) model of the ovary to reveal its internal structure, and the distribution and location of artery, veins, lymphatic vessels, and nerves of the ovary.
Methods: Continuous tissue sections of human ovarian tissue were prepared, with each group consisting of four layers. Each group was subjected to hematoxylin-eosin, silver plating, and LYVE1 or TH1 immunohistochemistry staining. Fine rectification was performed using Photoshop software. Mimics 21.0 software was used to overlap four groups of sections for 3D reconstruction. The 3D structure was segmented, zoned, and labeled. The course and anastomosis of micro vessels, nerves, and lymphatic vessels were analyzed by tissue sections and reconstruction.
Results: More than 400 longitudinal paraffin slices of human ovaries with a thickness of 2 μm were obtained. The arteries entering the ovaries from the ovarian hilum were distributed like combs, divided into 7 branches, each with a clear regional distribution. The branches of the ovarian artery divided the ovary into 8 zones. The nerves in the ovary had abundant anastomotic grids. Lymphatic vessels were abundant, which cling to blood vessels.
Conclusion: After micro reconstruction from the 3D model of the human ovary, we can observe the branches of blood vessels, nerves, and the distribution and course of lymphatic vessels in the ovary. This provides a solution to problems related to the interventional treatment of postpartum bleeding in ovarian diseases. Our results provide a corresponding anatomical basis for ovarian surgery.

Keywords: internal structure; micro-reconstruction; ovary; three-dimensional (3D) model

Ethical statement: All body donors had provided written consent for collecting and using their specimens for medical research or teaching. All experimental methods and protocols performed in this study were in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations (Declaration of Helsinki).

Funding statement: This study was financially supported by National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFF1202600).