Animation & Modeling
Features of the Scapula, An AR Experience
Happy to share my experience with Adobe Aero, using an illustration of the posterior scapula I made in Photoshop. It was fun adding interactive labels, tapping the pins to reveal the different features of the scapula. This is definitely a great teaching tool for medical student to use when memorizing and learning parts of the body.
You can access and experience this model at:https://lnkd.in/gxc_cfCT
Or by scanning the QR code on your phone, below.
Head and Neck Anatomy of Runner
For this project, I created a wax sculpture showing what the face undergoes when running. This includes opening of the mouth when inhaling air, pulling down the medial ends of the eyebrows to help reduce the glare of the sun (procerus), additional shifts of the muscles, flushing of the cheeks when your blood vessels dilate to release heat, and glossiness of the face from sweat. I then made a photogrammetry scan of it, which was done by taking pictures of my model from all angles, then loading them into Metashape to be processed. After, my model was edited in ZBrush and processed into Keyshot to make a turn table animation.
Polycystic Kidney Disease(PKD) Informative Animation
The polycystic kidney project required modeling and texturing a polycystic kidney from scratch within Zbrush. Afterward, it was imported into Keyshot, where a turn table animation was rendered out in still frames.
These in turn were imported into Adobe After Effects, where final touches- including an introductory screen, informational text and labels- were added. The additional text within the animation helped transform the kidney model into a small resource on Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD).
Sniffing Out a Diagnosis for Parkinson's Disease
In early March 2021, I was acquainted with Dr. Rodney Mountain, ENT surgeon from Ninewells Hospital to discuss project ideas during my master's program at Dundee University in Scotland. Mountain’s personal interest in the senses as a way to explain human experience, and my personal interest in linking personal life experiences to my medical artwork, complemented each other greatly. Mountain specifically wanted a project clearly highlighting intracranial neural pathways to help his patients fully understand the link between their sensory organs.
Partnering with Mountain for my dissertation seemed like a great idea - especially since the topic of smell loss relating to early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases has recently been reported by the mainstream media and medical journalists.
Choosing a neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s, with which I have had personal experience, seemed appropriate in the initial research stage of my project. After many hours exploring neurodegenerative disease options, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis - Parkinson’s Disease emerged as the most timely, with promising new experiments and studies conducted within the past year. This new information can lead to earlier diagnoses, before motor dysfunctions occur.
Researchers are more determined than ever to explore the pathology of PD. To my knowledge, one of their most exciting recent findings, linking smell loss to early diagnosis, has not been presented in animation format – until now. In fact, many sources, from BBC News and Parkinson’s News Today, foundations, like the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Parkinson’s Foundation, to scientific journals and experimental studies, argue for smell tests as a way of identifying people at risk for PD; it is also an inexpensive, easy way to diagnose the disease.
For the first half of my animation, I highlight key features of the olfactory system, as it’ll help viewers understand which parts of the brain related to olfaction are affected by Parkinson’s Disease, and how smell loss occurs. The animation follows the amazing, precise path that odor molecules take to create electrical signals for our brain to process.
The second half reflects studies discovering hyposmia of PD patients are due to “aggregate” α-syn proteins originating from the anterior olfactory cortex, as well as the olfactory bulb and tract. I decided to highlight the anterior olfactory cortex since it’s an area that needs to be better understood by the public.
It has been an honor and a privilege to work on this project that could potentially disseminate life-changing information to healthcare professionals and the public. That my animation exceeded Dr. Mountain’s expectations and that he plans to put it to use is gratifying and encouraging.