Fig. 1

Comparison between volume-rendered and pseudosurface representations. We use FluoRender to select and extract one nerve from a confocal scan of an intact ear semicircular canal of an oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau). a Volume rendering of the original confocal scan. Scale bar represents 20 μm. b One nerve is selected and highlighted using FluoRender’s brush tool. c The selected nerve is segmented. d The selected nerve is converted to a pseudosurface representation, using the marching cubes algorithm with a threshold at 0% grayscale. e A pseudosurface representation with a threshold at 10% grayscale. f A pseudosurface representation with a threshold at 20% grayscale. g A pseudosurface representation with a threshold at 30% grayscale. The result shows that conversion of volume data to pseudosurfaces is not suitable for visualizing intensity variations, which are essential for fluorescence microscopy. The parameter settings for pseudosurface conversion may greatly influence the results. Subsequent analysis and comparison based on pseudosurfaces may generate misleading results