Modifying an Anatomic Tracing

There are several circumstances that might warrant modifying a trace:

1. Partially inaccurate traces
   1. Make sure that the magnification is set to the right value--the modified trace will be redigitized at the accuracy associated with the current magnification
   2. Go to the slice where the partially inaccurate trace is located
   3. From the popup menu at the top of the control panel, choose the name of the structure you want to correct
   4. Press the "Edit Trace" button on the control panel. Its text should turn red, indicating that you are in 'trace editing' mode. The trace corresponding to this structure should turn green.
   5. If the green contour is not the correct structure, you can make a different choice from the popup menu at the top of the control panel or, from the "Contours" menu, you can select "Select Next Contour" or "Select Previous Contour" to advance through the list of contours. Keyboard shortcuts shown on the "Contours" menu can also be used.
   6. Click and release with the mouse at the beginning of the section of the green trace that you want to correct.
   7. Retrace the incorrect section
   8. Click and release again with the mouse to close the correction. The modified trace should now appear in red. Tracer will automatically revert to tracing mode.
2. Completely inaccurate traces
   1. Make sure that the magnification is set to the right value--the modified trace will be redigitized at the accuracy associated with the current magnification
   2. Go to the slice where the completely inaccurate trace is located
   3. From the popup menu at the top of the control panel, choose the name of the structure you want to correct
   4. Press the "Edit Trace" button on the control panel. Its text should turn red, indicating that you are in 'trace editing' mode. The trace corresponding to this structure should turn green.
   5. If the green contour is not the correct structure, you can make a different choice from the popup menu at the top of the control panel or, from the "Contours" menu, you can select "Select Next Contour" or "Select Previous Contour" to advance through the list of contours. Keyboard shortcuts shown on the "Contours" menu can also be used.
   6. From the "Edit" menu, select "Delete Trace" or use the keyboard shortcut shown on the menu. Tracer will automatically revert to tracing mode.
   7. Redraw the trace
3. Reversed traces
   1. Go to the slice where the completely inaccurate trace is located
   2. From the popup menu at the top of the control panel, choose the name of the structure you want to correct
   3. Press the "Edit Trace" button on the control panel. Its text should turn red, indicating that you are in 'trace editing' mode. The trace corresponding to this structure should turn green.
   4. If the green contour is not the correct structure, you can make a different choice from the popup menu at the top of the control panel or, from the "Contours" menu, you can select "Select Next Contour" or "Select Previous Contour" to advance through the list of contours. Keyboard shortcuts shown on the "Contours" menu can also be used.
   5. From the "Contours" menu, select "Show Origin of Selected Trace".
   6. From the "Contours" menu, select "Style" and then "Open" from the submenu. The selected green trace will now have a small red circle at its origin, (which can only be discerned when traces are open)
   7. From the "Edit" menu, select "Reverse Trace Order". The red circle will now appear at the opposite end of the trace showing that the direction of the trace has been reversed

Modified: December 15, 2001