Biomedical Visualisation

This edited book explores the use of technology to enable us to visualise the life sciences in a more meaningful and engaging way. It will enable those interested in visualisation techniques to gain a better understanding of the applications that can be used in visualisation, imaging and analysis, education, engagement and training.

The reader will be able to explore the utilisation of technologies from a number of fields to enable an engaging and meaningful visual representation of the biomedical sciences. This use of technology-enhanced learning will be of benefit for the learner, trainer and faculty, in patient care and the wider field of education and engagement.

In the first four chapters, it provides a detailed account of the history of the development of 3D resources for visualisation. Following on from this will be three major case studies which examine a variety of educational perspectives in the creation of resources. One centres around neuropsychiatric education, one is based on gaming technology and its application in a university biology curriculum, and the last of these chapters examines how ultrasound can be used in the modern day anatomical curriculum.

The next three chapters focus on a complex area of anatomy, and helps to create an engaging resource of materials focussed on craniofacial anatomy and applications. The first of these chapters examines how skulls can be digitised in the creation of an educational and training package, with excellent hints and tips. The second of these chapters has a real-world application related to forensic anatomy which examines skulls and soft tissue landmarks in the creation of a database for Cretan skulls, comparing it to international populations. The last three chapters present technical perspetives on visual perception and visualisation. By detailing visual perception, visual analytics and examination of multi-modal, multi-parametric data, these chapters help to understand the true scientific meaning of visualisation.

The work presented here can be accessed by a wide range of users from faculty and students involved in the design and development of these processes, to those developing tools and techniques to enable visualisation in the sciences.

Dr. Paul Rea is a medically qualified clinical anatomist and is a Senior Lecturer and Licensed Teacher of Anatomy. He has an MSc (by research) in craniofacial anatomy/surgery, a PhD in neuroscience, the Diploma in Forensic Medical Science (DipFMS), and has successfully completed an MEd (Learning and Teaching in Higher Education), with his dissertation examining digital technologies in anatomy. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA), elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, professional member of the Institute of Medical Illustrators (MIMI) and a fully registered medical illustrator with the Academy for Healthcare Science. 

Dr. Paul Rea has published widely and presented at many national and international meetings, including invited talks. He sits on the Executive Editorial Committee for the Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine, is Associate Editor for the European Journal of Anatomy and reviews for 23 different journals/publishers.

He is the Public Engagement and Outreach lead for anatomy coordinating collaborative projects with the Glasgow Science Centre, NHS and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Paul is also a STEM ambassador and has visited numerous schools to undertake outreach work.

His research involves a long-standing strategic partnership with the School of Simulation and Visualisation The Glasgow School of Art. This has led to multi-million pound investment in creating world leading 3D digital datasets to be used in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching to enhance learning and assessment. This successful collaboration resulted in the creation of the worlds first taught MSc Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy combining anatomy and digital technologies. The Institute of Medical Illustrators also accredits it. This degree, now into its 8th year, has graduated almost 100 people, and created college-wide, industry, multi-institutional and NHS research linked projects for students. Dr. Paul Rea is the Pathway Leader for this degree.