BioDigital Systems and Maya Lead
Medical Animation Advancements
The enthusiasm in their voices is unmistakable and it’s contagious. The founders of
BioDigital Systems, Aaron Oliker, John Qualter, and Frank Sculli, are in-the-trench
animators, software engineers and leaders in the emerging field of 3D medical animation.
Determined to shine a light on the possibilities for 3D in the world of medicine and
pharmaceuticals, BioDigital is working with such big name clients and partners as
Novartis, Cornell University’s Medical Center, and St. Luke’s Hospital.
“The area of 3D medical softwarehas only been around commercially for
the past three to four years,” begins
Oliker, when describing his business and
the industry. “We’re still in the process
of educating the pharmaceutical and
medical communities about the power
of 3D in their work.” And BioDigital
Systems is the one to do the educating.
In 2002, after 18 months of intense
scientific research, programming and
animation, Oliker unveiled the world’s
most advanced, scientifically accurate 3D
animated beating heart in conjunction
with NYU Medical Center.
Colvin, explained: “Medical animation software is going to provide an in-depth tool for
physicians to be able to take high volume, high resolution data sets, and put them into
models that can be explored visually helping us understand what is going on in a
particular patient.”
Only as Good as their Data
Using real database driven medical data, the
animators can manipulate the information
and feed portions of it into Maya to recreate
anatomically accurate medical conditions in 3D.
“For instance, the project we’re currently working
on with Novartis will show our virtual heart in
various medical scenarios - how the hear will
react in the body of a patient with high blood
pressure, or how it will react if the patient has
heart disease – to name a couple of examples,”
explains Oliker. By building their credibility
and the value of 3D in the medical community,
BioDigital Systems allows companies like Novartis
to develop educational Web site content, rich
media presentations, digital medical illustrations
and CD-ROM and DVD material to educate
their consumers.