Polar bear Knut's brain saved for posterity in 3D

Apr 20, 2011, 10:53 GMT

Berlin - The brain of Knut, the polar bear that splashed into international fame from his home base in Germany before dropping dead last month, aged 4, has been surveyed for posterity.

The examination is being conducted by some of the world's most advanced medical imaging machines, scientists in Berlin said Wednesday.

Now, anatomists can take a virtual 'walk' through the cerebral system of the bear, which was a worldwide celebrity as a cute cub in 2007 and died suddenly on March 19 of a seizure from undiagnosed encephalitis.

Even Knut's skull has been saved digitally. It has also been reproduced on a 3D printer, a device that manufactures shapes using successive layers of resin. The resin skull is a perfect replica of the original inside the head of Knut.

The 3D-scan project was a joint venture between the German capital's Leibniz Zoological Institute (IZW) and the 3D imaging laboratory at the maths department of the Technical University of Berlin.

Using a computer-tomograph scan that had been taken to discover Knut's cause of death, they demonstrated the uses of virtual reality for zoologists. Anatomists can now look inside rare animals without having to travel around the globe to see samples saved in alcohol.

IZW vet Thomas Hildebrandt said the models did not reveal anything new about Knut's illness, but did prove Knut had a great sense of smell. Polar bear brains have a very large odour-processing section.

'They can pick up the faintest molecules from a kilometre away. That's vital to finding food in the Arctic,' Hildebrandt said.

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