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The aim of this work was to reconstruct, in the rat embryos, stage 12–23, the three dimensional (3D) distribution of the dorsal and ventral pancreatic buds by of a computer assisted method. Ninety-six rat embryos, CRL 3–16 mm, fixed, dehydrated, and paraffin embedded, were submitted to serial histological sections and stained by hematoxylin–eosin and Heidenhain’s azan techniques. The images were digitalized by Canon Camera 350 EOS D. The serial views were aligned anatomically by software and the data were analyzed following segmentation and thresholding. The dorsal pancreas developed from the dorsal wall of the duodenum in stage 12, while the ventral pancreas arose from the ventral wall of the hepatic diverticulum in stage 13 and 14. The rotation of ventral pancreas started in stage 15 and was completed in stage 16. The fusion of both buds was evident in stage 17. In stage 23 the limit between dorsal and ventral bud was still marked by the pathway of superior mesenteric vein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]