2019 – Physicalizing Cardiac Blood Flow Data

Blood flow data from cardiac 4D Flow MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) holds much potential for research and diagnosis of flow-related diseases. However, understanding this data is quite challenging – after all, it is a volumetric vector field that changes over time. This paper proposes a novel slice-based physical model as a complementary method for visualizing the flow data. The design of this model respects the conventional method of viewing medical imagery (i.e., in cross-sections) but has the added advantages of engaging one’s sense of touch.

Source: Kathleen Ang, Faramarz F. Samavati, Samin Sabokrohiyeh, Julio Garcia, Mohammed S Elbaz (2019) Physicalizing cardiac blood flow data via 3D printing.