biomedical visualization

Eye loved it!

stephaniekline — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 01:11:29 +0000

I don’t think I ever posted this, so up it goes. I made this ocular (my first!) with our ocularist here at UIC’s Craniofacial Center. I enjoyed the process so much that I decided to spend part of my current clinical practicum (basically an internship at the clinic) working with him. The bulk of my time is still spent working with our senior anaplastologist and our patients – which I love.

Acrylic ocular

Stay tuned to hear all about the 25th International Anaplastology Association Conference, from which I am currently on my way home – it was amazing. I met so many wonderful doctors, surgeons and anaplastologists… it was heaven. I spent most of my time feeling star-struck To celebrate, I will write more about it and post some recent photos of my work (and of course, pictures from the conference)!

Surgical Orientation

stephaniekline — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 05:45:37 +0000

Here are some line drawings I did during our Surgical Orientation class last summer (2010). The illustration of the forceps is extremely foreshortened (they were actually pretty long), and the illustration of the gloved hand holding the surgical scissors is also slightly foreshortened. Enjoy!

Hemostat

Gloved hand holding surgical scissors

Foreshortened forceps

kidneys and… Mudbox!

stephaniekline — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:35:25 +0000

Lots and lots of kidneys… For this assignment, I started with a CT scan of a patient’s abdomen. Using Mimics (Materialise), I manually segmented out one of the kidneys from the surrounding tissue and imported it into 3ds Max. In 3ds Max, I remodeled the kidney so as to achieve a low-count, polygonal-based model rather than a high-density triangular one. I then took the kidney model into Mudbox, where I sculpted, textured and painted it to look like a healthy kidney. I also took the same model and sculpted, textured and painted it to look like the kidney of someone with advanced hypertensive nephropathy. I took both models back into 3ds Max to stage and light them, and then I took my final renders into Photoshop for a few touch-ups. (Below: The healthy kidney is on the left, advanced hypertensive nephropathy is on the right.)

going backwards

stephaniekline — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:59:44 +0000

For this assignment, we were to build a 3D model (in 3ds Max) of something microscopic, to aid in the pre-visualization of and creation of a 2D illustration in Photoshop. I chose to illustrate a cheese-looking chunk of bone, to better visualize haversian systems in cortical bone.

I made an ear!

stephaniekline — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:10:34 +0000

I can’t believe I almost forgot to post the first prosthesis I have ever made, from start to finish – here is my baby!

(PS – I am simply holding it up to my inner forearm because we color-matched our projects to ourselves.)

The process began when we chose a cast of an ear (a 3D dental stone ear made from an impression (3D negative) of one of last year’s students). We built up and fine-tuned a wax opposite (don’t be fooled, this took a heck of a long time) and made a 3-piece mold from the wax model. We then mixed up seven unique silicone glazes, color-matched to our own skin tones, and intrinsically painted the ear mold. Finally, we trimmed the prosthesis and extrinsically painted it to perfect the overall look. If you’re interested in learning more about the process or seeing pictures of any of the steps, just let me know!

3D modeling exercises

stephaniekline — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:04:06 +0000

Some 3D models I made this past semester: hemostats, a syringe and some red blood cells in a blood vessel.

Backing up a bit

stephaniekline — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:56:46 +0000

Our second assignment in my Illustration Techniques class was to illustrate a process or a series of steps in line technique without any rendering (using shading to create form) for the purpose of being used in something like a journal article (i.e. there would be accompanying text as well as a caption). We had to include both geometric and organic shapes. To create depth and form, we used varying line weight, both overall and within each line.

For my subject matter, I travelled back in time to the good ol’ days of working in the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Henry Ford Hospital, where I worked on a project that studied shoulder function in patients following rotator cuff repair (thanks to Dr. Michael Bey). Part of each patient’s visit involved testing their shoulder strength using a physical therapy machine called a Biodex. My brother was kind enough to be my model, and I snapped a few pictures of him and the machine set up in one of the positions we used to test. From sketches of those images, I drew the illustrations in Adobe Illustrator using my Wacom Tablet. I felt that a couple different views (frontal and sagittal), including one of the Biodex alone, best described the correct set-up. It’s quite hard to see the detail in each individual illustration, but I’m sure you get the idea – if you click on the image, you can zoom in using the View menu on your browser.

Assignment 3 x 2

stephaniekline — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:33:47 +0000

Just wanted to finish up the Spring semester and ring in the Summer semester. Here are my final two assignments for my 3D modeling class and my illustration class – in both I chose to illustrate multiple sclerosis. The first is my 3d modeling composite – which was rendered in passes and layers in 3ds Max and composited in Photoshop (where I did some extra lighting, depth of field edits, and minor touch-ups). The second is an illustration that was completely rendered in Photoshop from some initial pencil sketches.

Second 3D modeling assignment

stephaniekline — Tue, 04 May 2010 04:09:10 +0000

Here is my second 3D modeling assignment. We segmented out the bones from a CT scan of a knee using Mimics (Materialise) and imported the prepared image slices into 3ds Max. We spent a few class periods preparing UVW maps of the surface of each bone (spreading out flat the “skin” of each model, and performing a technique called “pelt mapping” to work out all the twists and turns of the surface) so that we could export a flattened version of each surface and paint it in Photoshop. We also used these paintings to create a unique bump map for the surface of each bone – to give them a more realistic texture when lit. We then set up a scene, placed a camera and went to town with our lights. I’ve got a main upper left-hand light source, a couple fill lights, and at least one rim light for each bone. I then set it on a stand to make it look like a knee model.

The next two renders are examples of other things you can do with a bone model and some texturing in 3ds Max. One is supposed to look like a drawing done using a stippling technique, and the other is supposed to look like an x-ray of a knee (touched-up in Photoshop).

Something from the beginning of the semester

stephaniekline — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:11:56 +0000

The first of a few posts in which I will treat you to some earlier assignments – hooray! The following is from my Illustration Techniques class, in which we’re learning all about digital illustration. This was our first assignment – an anatomical subject fully-rendered in line, done in Adobe Illustrator. Behold, the first time I used my Wacom Tablet (which is *totally* sweet) and drew in Illustrator! Oh yes, my subject matter was the inner ear, and I drew from a gigantic anatomical model that I borrowed from my awesome anatomy professor, Dr. Pescitelli (thank you!).

Inner Ear - Location Inside Temporal Bone