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New Technology Gives Doctors and Researchers a Clearer View of the Human Body

Posted on: Wednesday, 23 May 2007, 21:18 CDT

By BILL GRAVELAND

CALGARY (CP) - University of Calgary scientists say new virtual-reality technology will allow medical researchers to look deeper inside the human body than ever before.

The new technology, which was unveiled Wednesday, uses a cube-shaped virtual reality room to zero in on body parts at 10 times the resolution previously available.

Scientists liken the effect to the 1966 movie "Fantastic Voyage" in which a submarine is shrunk to a microscopic size and injected into a man's bloodstream to save his life.

"You can make anything the size you want," said Dr. Christoph Sensen of the Sun Center of Excellence for Visual Genomics. "You could make a kidney as big as a whole room or you can be inside of a single nephron (basic structural unit of the kidney) so that's a thousand times bigger again."

In the virtual-reality room, referred to as the "research holodeck," a human model floats in space, projected from three walls and the floor below. The use of 3-D glasses makes the holographic image complete.

With a click of a mouse, any part of the body can be localized and enlarged. The 4-D Human Atlas technology can be used as both a teaching and diagnostic tool.

The atlas, which is built on data from basic anatomy textbooks, is designed to investigate the genetics of various diseases.

Since the system is time programmable, the doctor can follow the progress of the disease or healing.

Using available data from such sources as X-rays and MRIs, the computer can also be programmed to provide a virtual double of a patient.

For example, the human atlas can be programmed to include a cancerous growth, giving doctors a better idea of possible treatments and potential risks.

"If you have something like cancer and go to three specialists - a radiologist could tell you to take X-rays and zap the tumour, the surgeon would tell you to take it out and the chemotherapist will pump you up with chemicals to kill the tumour that way," said Sensen.

"We'd like to get a unified model and have them all sit down and discuss it."

The complete visualization also makes the choice of treatment an easier process for the patient, Sensen said.

"The patient can then make an educated choice rather than some Latin names for their disease and being left out there to decide for themselves."

Dr. Benedikt Hallgrimsson, an associate professor of cell biology and anatomy at the university's Faculty of Medicine, said the program will help doctors chart possible treatments.

"The big innovation here is the anatomy is object-oriented, which means we can see how different anatomical structures change in shape and size as a result of diseases like cleft lip and palate," he said.

"It's relatively easier to predict how a surgical outcome would effect the shape of the face so that's a more immediate application."

The model was developed from a considerably more limited concept by a small company in Red Deer, Alta.

"Our initial goal was to make computer models that could be used for our massage therapy training program," said Brenda Grosenick, co-owner of Kasterstener Inc.

"We approached the U of C and suddenly we were working on something much more elaborate than we could ever have imagined."

Source: Canadian Press

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