The Future of Medical Studies, Today

Bernadette Geißler

[:de]Das transdisziplinäre Team hinter “Virtual Anatomy” und dem JKU medSPACE: Klaus Engel von Siemens Healthineers mit CTO Horst Hörtner, Technical Director Roland Haring und Friedrich Bachinger vom Ars Electronica Futurelab und Univ.-Prof. Dr. Franz Fellner [:en]The transdisciplinary team behind “Virtual Anatomy” and the JKU medSPACE: Klaus Engel of Siemens Healthineers with Horst Hörtner, Technical Director Roland Haring and Friedrich Bachinger from the Ars Electronica Futurelab and University Professor Dr. Franz Fellner[:], Credit: Tom Mesic

Experience a whole new level of fascination and awe for the human body up close thanks to the software “Virtual Anatomy”, prominently featured in the JKU medSPACE at Johannes Kepler University Hospital in Linz, now open as a venue for teaching anatomy. The Ars Electronica Futurelab is in charge of this prestigious project, one of a kind worldwide, which was created in cooperation with Siemens Healthineers and Dr. Franz Fellner of JKU.

By starting the content, you agree that data will be transmitted to www.youtube.com.
Data Protection Declaration

Students can explore the human body in a completely new way in the JKU medSPACE: in high-resolution 3D, zooming and rotating from the outermost layer of skin to the smallest blood vessel — with images that fill the room in 8K resolution on 14 x 7 meters. With “Virtual Anatomy” real radiology data (MRI and CRT images) can be seen as 3D anatomical details of a living human being – instead of abstracted models.

Real data – in real time

The project is also especially valuable for research and teaching because the Futurelab team has worked for years to develop a way of creating completely new data sets — from brain to whole-body scans — that takes only 15 minutes instead of several hours. This makes it possible for lecturers to independently integrate new data from patients into their teaching, practically in real time.

Organs and blood vessels, muscles and tendons, bones and ligaments, as well as tumors and injuries can be magnified to tiniest details as three-dimensional objects in razor-sharp clarity. Students and lecturers can truly immerse themselves in the 3D images and view them from all possible angles. Lecturers use “Virtual Anatomy” to assemble the data they need from computer tomography or magnetic resonance scans and add coloring for illustration purposes.

The first presentation of the JKU medSPACE for select members of the Ars Electronica Futurelab, JKU Linz and Siemens Healthineers[:], Credit: Tom Mesic
The transdisciplinary team behind “Virtual Anatomy” and the JKU medSPACE: Klaus Engel of Siemens Healthineers with Horst Hörtner, Technical Director Roland Haring and Friedrich Bachinger from the Ars Electronica Futurelab and University Professor Dr. Franz Fellner[:], Credit: Tom Mesic
University Professor Dr. Fellner presents the unique possibilities of “Virtual Anatomy” using the thyroid gland as an example[:], Credit: Tom Mesic
A successful start for the JKU medSPACE with Vice Rector Dr. Elgin Drda, Prof. Dr. Franz Fellner, CTO Horst Hörtner from the Ars Electronica Futurelab and Prof. Dr. Meinhard Lukas, Rector of JKU Linz[:], Credit: Tom Mesic
From the outermost layer of skin to the tiniest vessel: “Virtual Anatomy” makes anatomy more tangible and personal than ever before.[:], Credit: Tom Mesic

The project was initiated by Dr. Franz Fellner, the current head of the Central Radiology Institute at Johannes Kepler University Hospital, who brought the team led by Siemens researcher Klaus Engel together with the Ars Electronica Futurelab. In September 2015, the 16-by-9-meter Deep Space 8K in the Ars Electronica Center became a lecture hall for virtual anatomy with the software “Cinematic Rendering” for the first time. Regular lectures followed, as did anatomy for amateurs and live feeds of surgeries.

Preparation by transdisciplinary work

“Virtual Anatomy” and the JKU medSPACE were developed and implemented on the basis of all these experiences. The years-long research project was led by the Ars Electronica Futurelab, with JKU’s medical-didactic expertise building on software from Siemens Healthineers. The lab customized the software to meet the requirements of a modern multimedia lecture hall.

With the JKU medSPACE, the university of the future becomes a reality, preparing medical professionals to operate together with robots, diagnose with AI systems, and teach and learn in virtual environments. The JKU medSPACE also reveals the potential offered by transdisciplinary work of the kind that the Ars Electronica Futurelab has been doing for 25 years — when curiosity and openness, professional and didactic expertise, technological competence and, last but not least, artistic creativity come together.

Muscles and tendon cords, organs and blood vessels, bones and ligaments, but also tumors and injuries can be magnified tens of times in “Virtual Anatomy” as three-dimensional, pin-sharp objects.[:], Credit: Tom Mesic
“This is just the beginning,” University Professor Dr. Franz Fellner tells of “Virtual Anatomy” – here in conversation with Vice Rector Dr. Elgin Drda, Prof. Dr. Franz Fellner, Horst Hörtner from the Ars Electronica Futurelab and Prof. Dr. Meinhard Lukas, Rector of JKU Linz[:], Credit: Tom Mesic
The blood supply of a living person, freely rotatable and zoomable, in unimagined detail from head to toe: “Virtual Anatomy” lets you see the previously impossible[:], Credit: Tom Mesic
Friedrich Bachinger of the Ars Electronica Futurelab, one of the key figures behind the transformation of the software for 8K-3D projection and university teaching[:], Credit: Tom Mesic
Happy developers of “Virtual Anatomy”: Klaus Engel of Siemens Healthineers with CTO Horst Hörtner, Technical Director Roland Haring and Friedrich Bachinger from the Ars Electronica Futurelab[:], Credit: Tom Mesic

Want to know more? Read about “Virtual Anatomy” on the Ars Electronica Futurelab website, explore the beginnings of “Cinematic Rendering” on our blog or contact us for more information!

, , , ,