Fig. 1. Photographs showing the methodology for investigating the cross-sectional morphology of the mandibular nerve (MN) at the foramen ovale (FO) level. (A) The MN and all of its branches are exposed in the infratemporal fossa after removing the skin, subcutaneous tissue, zygomatic arch, ramus of mandible, masticatory muscles, and maxillary vessels, etc. A red-colored dotted circle indicates the location of the FO. (B) After cutting transversely the short trunk close to the FO, the cross-sectional area of each division could be distinguished by an irregular boundary and color in most of the specimens. The posterior division (asterisk) is clearly darker than the anterior one. (C) The boundary of each division of the MN is manually drawn using a transparent film on the image. AD: anterior division, Ant: anterior, ATN: auriculotemporal nerve, BN: buccal nerve, DTN: deep temporal nerve, IAN: inferior alveolar nerve, Lat: lateral, LN: lingual nerve, LPN: nerve to lateral pterygoid muscle, LPP: lateral plate of the pterygoid process, Med: medial, MLN: nerve to mylohyoid muscle, MsN: masseteric nerve, PD: posterior division, Post: posterior.
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