Overview

Quick guide

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Version 1.0

The Nowinski Brain Image Gallery (nBIG) of the NOWinBRAIN repository contains systematic, comprehensive, large, extendable, beautiful, and to be long-lasting collections of anatomic and artistic images of a living human brain cum head and neck reconstructed in 3D. It is freely available and requires no registration. With the initial 5,156 (now 8,534) diversified images, it is useful to a wide spectrum of users in medicine and beyond.

The images were derived by means of a multi-award winner 3D atlas by Nowinski WL et al. The Human Brain, Head and Neck in 2953 Pieces, Thieme 2015, New York, freely downloadable from http://www.thieme.com/nowinski/. This atlas, created from multiple 3 and 7 Tesla MRI and high-resolution CT scans, contains virtual models of the central nervous system (with the cerebrum (parcellated into lobes, gyri, and sulci), cerebellum, brainstem, and cervical spinal cord), deep structures, cerebral ventricles, white matter, white matter tracts, intracranial arterial system, intracranial venous system, extracranial arteries, extracranial veins, cranial nerves with nuclei, head muscles, glands, skull, cervical spine, skin, auditory system, and visual system.

The construction of the atlas had been an over decade effort (the first scan was acquired in 2003 and the latest atlas edition released in 2015). This work has received 12 awards from the Radiological Society of North America (2012, 2010, 2009 Magna cum Laude and Excellence in Design, 2008, 2006), the American Society of Neuroradiology (2014 and 2012 Summa cum Laude, 2009), the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (2013 Pioneer in Medicine), the British Medical Association (2013), and the European Patent Office (2014 European Inventor Award nominee). The details covering atlas construction, content, features, and validation are in the references below.

Nowinski WL: 3D atlas of the brain, head and neck in 2953 pieces. Neuroinformatics 2017;15(4):395–400.
Nowinski WL: Towards the holistic, reference and extendable atlas of the human brain, head and neck. Brain Informatics 2015;2(2):65-76.
Nowinski WL, Thaung TSL, Chua BC, Wut Yi SH, Ngai V, Yang Y, Chrzan R, Urbanik A: Three-dimensional stereotactic atlas of the adult human skull correlated with the brain, cranial nerves and intracranial vasculature. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2015;246:65–74.
Nowinski WL, Thaung TSL, Chua BC, Wut Yi SH, Yang Y, Urbanik A: Three-dimensional stereotactic atlas of the extracranial vasculature correlated with the intracranial vasculature, cranial nerves, skull and muscles. The Neuroradiology Journal 2015;28(2):190-197.
Nowinski WL: Visualization and interaction in the atlas of the human brain, head and neck. Machine Graphics and Vision 2014;23(3/4):3-10.
Nowinski WL, Chua BC, Johnson A, Qian G, Poh LE, Wut Yi SH, Aminah B, Nowinska NG: Three-dimensional interactive and stereotactic atlas of head muscles and glands correlated with cranial nerves and surface and sectional neuroanatomy. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2013;215(1):12-18.
Nowinski WL, Johnson A, Chua BC, Nowinska NG: Three-dimensional interactive and stereotactic atlas of cranial nerves and nuclei correlated with surface neuroanatomy, vasculature and magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2012;206(2):205-216.
Nowinski WL, Chua BC, Qian GY, Nowinska NG: The human brain in 1700 pieces: design and development of a three-dimensional, interactive and reference atlas. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2012;15;204(1):44-60.
Nowinski WL: Proposition of a new classification of the cerebral veins based on their termination. Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy 2012;34(2):107-114.
Nowinski WL, Chua BC, Yang GL, Qian GY: Three-dimensional interactive human brain atlas of white matter tracts. Neuroinformatics 2012;10(1):33-55.
Nowinski WL, Chua BC, Puspitasari F, Volkau I, Marchenko Y, Knopp MV: Three-dimensional reference and stereotactic atlas of human cerebrovasculature from 7 Tesla. NeuroImage 2011;55(3):986-998.
Nowinski WL, Volkau I, Marchenko Y, A Thirunavuukarasuu, Ng TT, Runge VM: A 3D model of the human cerebrovasculature derived from 3 tesla 3 dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography. Neuroinformatics 2009;7(1):23-36.

The design, development, features, and content of the nBIG/NOWinBRAIN version 1.0 are presented in

NOWinBRAIN: a large, systematic, and extendable repository of 3D reconstructed images of a living human brain cum head and neck

click here

See also www.wieslawnowinski.com

Happy NOWinBRAINing

9 December 2020

Version 1.1

Version 1.1 comprises 5,733 images organized in 494 albums. It extends and enhances version 1.0 with new content: 1 gallery, 50 albums, and 955 images. A new gallery G6 (the previous special theme and artistic gallery G6 becomes G7) is created, especially, for neuroradiology. G6 contains 42 albums with 502 images organized as sequences of spatially co-registered 2D-3D pairs of (tri)planar and surface neuroanatomy located in stereotactic space. G1 is reorganized and extended from 2261 images in 225 albums to 2,336 images in 233 albums. Moreover, 378 images in 12 albums (of G1T1, G1T2, and G1T3) are substituted with new images with an increased number of labels and their placement enhanced.

Gallery G6 with planar-surface neuroimages is featured in

Bridging neuroradiology and neuroanatomy: NOWinBRAIN – a repository with sequences of correlated and labeled planar-surface neuroimages

9 June 2021

Version 1.2

Version 1.2 contains 6,659 images organized in 511 albums. Its main component is the dissection gallery G7 (consequently, the previous gallery G7, slightly extended, becomes G8). G7 contains 923 new images organized in 14 albums. It provides exposed inner structures and vessels within a dissected brain.

9 December 2021

Version 1.3

Version 1.3 comprises 7,761 images organized in 533 albums and 10 galleries. The dissection gallery G7 is extended to 1,942 images in 32 albums. Two new galleries are added G8 and G9, and the special theme and artistic gallery now becomes G10. G8 contains a description of brain function. G9 comprises multi-images/views, among others, sulcal dual images labeled on the corresponding white matter and cortical surfaces.

Gallery G7 with dissected neuroimages is described in

NOWinBRAIN 3D neuroimage repository: exploring the human brain via systematic and stereotactic dissections

click here

Gallery G9 with cerebral sulci presented on dual white matter-cortical surfaces is addressed in

On the definition, construction, and presentation of the human cerebral sulci: A morphology-based approach

24 July 2022

Version 1.3.1

Version 1.3.1 comprises 7,829 images organized in 567 albums and 10 galleries. The multi-images/views gallery G9 is extended with 76 two- and six-view images organized in 34 albums.

9 December 2022

Version 1.3.2

Version 1.3.2 has 8,179 images organized in 612 albums and 11 galleries. A new gallery G8 is added providing cortical and cranial openings. It contains 350 images organized in 45 albums. The previous galleries G8 and G10 now become G10 and G12, respectively.

28 February 2023

Version 1.3.3

Version 1.3.3 has 8,205 images organized in 625 albums and 12 galleries. Gallery G8 is extended and a new gallery G11 is added with neurologic disorders.

28 March 2023

Version 1.3.4

Version 1.3.4 has 8,380 images organized in 632 albums and 12 galleries. Gallery G8 is extended with additional 175 images.

21 August 2023

Version 1.4

Version 1.4 has 8,606 images organized in 640 albums and 12 galleries. Gallery G8 is completed with 693 images organized in 60 folders. Gallery G11 with neurologic disorders is finalized with 84 images in 10 folders.

7 October 2023