Journey to the Center
of the Heart
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Currently doctors look at the 3D body through 2D images or a series of 2D slices. It has long been a dream to voyage through the body and, with new technologies and ever increasing computational power, that dream is coming closer to reality. | ||
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Proteus In the film Fantastic Voyage, doctors journey through a human body in this miniature submarine. The film includes an amazing whirlpool scene, which was filmed by immersing the model sub in a bowl of swirling red punch, with Cheerios cereal representing red corpuscles. The model in this photograph was built by David Gamble (Image copyright David Gamble). | "The World's Smallest Submarine" This image shows a microscale submarine produced by the German company MicroTEC, using a technique termed rapid micro product development. The sub is small enough to fit inside a human artery, and work is now ongoing to incorporate sensors, data transmission, and microelectronics within the structure. However, even with this remarkable technology, we are still some way from being able to see directly inside the human blood system. More information and further images are available on the MicroTEC Web site. | |
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Technologies such as ViewTec MedView perform analysis and processing of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT) or positron emission tomography (PET) cross-sectional images, allowing reconstruction and visualization of 3-D anatomical structures interactively - a technique known as virtual endoscopy.
Reproduced courtesy of ViewTec Ltd. Images copyright ViewTec Ltd, Zurich, Switzerland. | ||
 | Researchers at Stanford have described a technique for 3-D cine MR imaging. This image is a view from within the left ventricle at the apex looking towards the aortic valve (right) and through the mitral valve plane into the left atrium. Click on the image to see a movie sequence - recorded noninvasively - that shows the heart beating from within (MPEG movie, 81 Kb). Reproduced courtesy of the 3-D Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Stanford University. Rearchers working on this project are: Marcus T. Alley, Sandy Napel, Yasuo Amano, David S. Paik, Roger Y. Shifrin, Ann Shimakawa, Norbert J. Pelc, and Robert J. Herfkens. Further information is available at the 3-D Laboratory Web site. | |
 | Dreamspace If you can't wait until these research tools become commonplace, you might find an into-body experience at Dreamspace - a huge, brightly colored, walk-in sculpture by British artist Maurice Agis. Enter the interconnected chambers and, with a little imagination, you can believe you are on your own Fantastic Voyage. Vist the Dreamspace Web site for more information. Photo by Paloma Brotons, reproduced with permission. | |
Moira Sarsfield is a freelance new media producer, working mostly in the medical field. During her career in publishing she has progressed from traditional scientific publications, through beautifully designed medical books, to the challenge of presenting information in a new way on the web and CD-ROM.
