3D Animation

Under the Microscope

December 16, 2008 December 16, 2008 Of the three big businesses I hoped to do break into upon completing my studies at CDIA, I viewed medical animation as the one I was the least likely to land.  I mean, I’m not doctor, and while I find the human body fascinating, I’m an artist first and a scientist… well, rarely. So, it was all kinds of interesting when the Practicum project that landed in our lap last month was for Johns Hopkins Medical Institute.  I mentioned in my previous posting that we had been tasked with creating a visualization of the effect and treatment of aplastic anemia, so I thought I’d elaborate on that. What is it, exactly?  Aplastic anemia is an autoimmune disorder wherein the body’s immune system becomes confused and starts to attack healthy cells.  In particular, stem cells.  I didn’t know this before we started, but inside your bone marrow, stem cells are growing.  These cells transform into red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, all of which are critical to your body’s daily business.  Red blood cells deliver oxygen to your muscles, white blood cells form your immune system, and platelets help with clotting.  When you’ve got aplastic anemia, some of your white blood cells assault the stem cells, and the counts on your other cells starts to plummet.  This causes all kinds of problems. The project was brought to us by Bill Chenaille, the Director of Outreach at CDIA’s Washington, DC campus.  He has some expertise in the area, as his daughter is currently coping with aplastic anemia.  Not only did this provide us a tremendous resource in Bill, but it also gave us a real and tangible benefit in knowing our work could help someone. According to our client, the animation is needed because everything that happens with aplastic anemia occurs on the cellular level, making it dreadfully hard for patients and their families to understand.  Even the treatment is challenging to describe, as it has to make you a little bit sicker before it can make you better.  What we’re developing is a visual aid that will hopefully give them that understanding and maybe even help to educate people who aren’t aware of what aplastic anemia is about.  Next time, I’ll share some of the material we’ve created to make that connection. Media that Matters?  You bet.