{"id":111080,"date":"2024-05-03T14:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=111080"},"modified":"2026-04-09T09:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:47:20","slug":"the-magicians-of-medical-imagery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/03\/the-magicians-of-medical-imagery\/","title":{"rendered":"The Magicians of Medical Imagery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\tUNMC formed the iEXCEL program to reach a new level in 3D, virtual reality and augmented reality medical imagery, allowing health professions students to learn their skills in new, engaging ways.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tT<\/span>o<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t craft this high tech content for UNMC students, iEXCEL calls on its team of designers, artists and animators with experiences from Hollywood to Netflix to the gaming industry to bring that science to life. Read on to learn about these Magicians of Medical Imagery.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThese Magicians of Medical Imagery – the iEXCEL Visualization Team – are (from left) Brian Curtis, Bill Glass, Wesley Fisher, Anthony Lanza, Paul Dye, Jeremiah Wilt, Jer Weann Ang and Dheeraj Varandani.\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t

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As a child, Bill Glass spent hours paging through Peterson Field Guides, the classic series known for its intricate wildlife illustrations. Glass remembers being captivated by the detail in drawings of such striking North American birds as the bald eagle and red-tailed hawk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was like telling a story without words,\u201d he said. These illustrative books would lead Glass, who \u201chated\u201d math and English and \u201cdidn\u2019t care\u201d about history, to a career in medical illustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll I liked was art and science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up in Malaysia, Jer Weann Ang, too, was fascinated by the amount of information gleaned dissecting microscopy images and diagrams in biology books. \u201cI wanted to replicate that and share the beauty of biology and life with others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plans for a genetics and molecular biology graduate degree changed when an undergraduate art adviser in the U.S. suggested another way to combine her love of science and art: medical illustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Glass and Ang transform complex biological and medical concepts into more easily understood 3D modules to benefit UNMC health profession students, faculty and staff \u2014 a stark contrast to hand-drawn anatomy illustrations studied by past generations. <\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t

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Their talents contribute to iEXCEL\u2019s visualization team \u2014 a cadre of designers, artists and animators who create custom, anatomically correct, 3D-content for health education classes. Beyond medical illustration, the team\u2019s resume boasts a range of skills and experiences that stretch from Hollywood to Netflix to the gaming industry \u2014 skills they use to bring science to life for UNMC students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At UNMC \u2014 inside the Dr. Edwin G. & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center \u2014 the team is grounded by a clear mission and meaningful work. \u201cWe\u2019re focused on making assets as accurate and informative as possible,\u201d Glass said. \u201cSeeing people use our content and having that \u2018Aha!\u2019 moment is rewarding.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re also on the front lines in charting a new course for health science education.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201ciEXCEL set out to create the most accurate medical imagery possible because we believe 3D and virtual and augmented reality can help students learn about complex anatomy and physiology in an engaging way,\u201d said Pam Boyers, PhD, associate vice chancellor of clinical simulation and iEXCEL. \u201cWe have combined gaming, modeling, simulation and visualization to create volumetric 3D imagery that brings learning to life.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students can \u2014 at their own pace and in their own time \u2014 manipulate and engage with organs and systems to better understand how they function. Real, but anonymized, patient data helps clinicians with diagnostics and pre-surgical planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltimately, our vision is to distribute content across distance in real-time to respond to emergencies and provide tele-mentoring and tele-proctoring to save lives,\u201d Dr. Boyers said. Success, she said, will depend, in part, on talented artists and technologists.  <\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tUsing this interactive 3D program (see above and below), students and health care professionals can practice donning and doffing procedures for personal protective equipment.\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Medical illustration has long played an invaluable role in translating science to improve lives. From illustrations on papyrus to Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s anatomical figures to Andreas Vesalius\u2019 anatomy book, \u201cDe Corpus Fabrica Humani,\u201d to today\u2019s 3D modules, illustrations transform complex information into visual images that improve learning and understanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

German artist Max Br\u00f6del is considered the father of modern medical illustration. Hired at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1894, he became the inaugural director of the first medical illustration program in the country in 1911. Many of his students became founding members of the Association of Medical Illustrators in 1945.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glass wasn\u2019t aware of such history while reading Peterson Field Guides. A love of oil painting and watercolors led him to a fine arts degree at Auburn University, and, from there, an understanding of the starving artist stereotype. After illustrating a pamphlet for a cousin\u2019s home health company, he enrolled in the Medical College of Georgia, where he graduated with a Master of Science in medical illustration in 1989.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have been in bliss ever since,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turns out medical illustration also was a perfect fit for Ang, who earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in genetics, with a minor in studio art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She joined UNMC after graduating with a Master of Science in biomedical visualization from the University of Illinois at Chicago, in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a cool career because it\u2019s so niche, and you can combine art and science,\u201d Ang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tUNMC\u2019s roots in medical illustration\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Rose Reynolds spent 50 years (1929-1977) sharing her artistic skills with the UNMC community. An anatomical illustrator, she was one of the founding members of the Association of Medical Illustrators, who came together in 1945 to promote the \u201cadvancement of medical illustration and allied fields of visual education.\u201d Years later, Bill Wassom (1984- 2013) provided medical illustration services to the UNMC community, initially through biomedical communications and later as part of UNMC Printing Services.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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