Study of upper extremity growth and development using human embryos and computer-reconstructed models
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A E Seyfer1, G Wind, R R Martin
1Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md.
The Journal of Hand Surgery
|November 1, 1989
Abstract:
This study investigated the apical ectodermal ridge and early vasculature of the human limb bud by use of histologic techniques and a new method of computer modeling. Fourteen human embryos were studied (more than 10,000 sections) microscopically and the embryonic limbs were reconstructed three-dimensionally by use of a serialized programming method. The apical ectodermal ridge consists of an extensive band of specialized cells, located over the rim of the limb surmounting a strip of rapidly-dividing mesenchymal cells. It is consistently supplied by a large vessel that shows extensive central branching.