From the wax cast of brain ventricles (1508-9) by Leonardo da Vinci to air cast ventriculography (1918) by Walter E. Dandy

The mold of the human cerebral ventricles produced in 1918 by Walter E. Dandy had an experimental precedent, a wax cast of ox ventricles made four hundred years earlier (1508-9) by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). This paper is an homage to the epitome of Renaissance and polymath Leonard da Vinci, as well as to Walter Edward Dandy (1886-1946) who developed the ventriculography (1918) and pneumoencephalography (1919) techniques. Pneumoencephalography was applied broadly up to the late 1970s, when it was replaced by less invasive and more accurate neuroimaging techniques.