Editing Visible Human Project

{{Short description|NIH-funded project to digitally image the human body}}
[[File:NLM Visible Human Project - Section through the head of a human male.jpg|thumb|Cryosection through the [[human head|head]] of a human male]]
The '''Visible Human Project''' is an effort to create a detailed [[data set]] of cross-sectional photographs of the human body, in order to facilitate [[anatomy]] visualization applications. It is used as a tool for the progression of medical findings, in which these findings link anatomy to its audiences.<ref name="Waldby">{{cite book|title=The Visible Human Project: Informatic Bodies and Posthuman Medicine|last1=Waldby|first1=Catherine|date=September 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-36063-7|page=4}}</ref> A male and a female [[cadaver]] were cut into thin slices, which were then photographed and digitized. The project is run by the [[United States National Library of Medicine|U.S. National Library of Medicine]] (NLM) under the direction of Michael J. Ackerman. Planning began in 1986;<ref>Burke, L., & Weill, B. (2009). Chapter 10. Information technology for the health professions (3rd ed., p. 212). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.</ref> the data set of the male was completed in November 1994 and that of the female in November 1995. The project can be viewed today at the NLM in Bethesda, Maryland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medlineplus.gov/magazine/issues/fall14/articles/fall14pg26-27.html|title=The Visible Humans {{!}} NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine|website=medlineplus.gov|access-date=2019-01-18}}</ref>  There are currently efforts to repeat this project with higher resolution images but only with parts of the body instead of a cadaver.

== Data ==
[[File:NLM Visible Human Project - section through the abdomen of a human male.jpg|thumb|Cryosection through the [[abdomen]] and [[upper limb]]s of a human male]]
The male cadaver was encased and frozen in a gelatin and water mixture in order to stabilize the specimen for cutting.  The specimen was then "cut" in the [[Anatomical directions|axial]] plane at 1-millimeter intervals.  Each of the resulting 1,871 "slices" was photographed in both film and digital, yielding 15 [[gigabyte]]s of data. In 2000, the photos were rescanned at a higher resolution, yielding more than 65 gigabytes.  The female cadaver was cut into slices at 0.33-millimeter intervals, resulting in some 40 gigabytes of data.

The term "cut" is a bit of a [[misnomer]], yet it is used to describe the process of grinding away the top surface of a specimen at regular intervals.  The term "slice", also a misnomer, refers to the revealed surface of the specimen to be photographed; the process of grinding the surface away is entirely destructive to the specimen and leaves no usable or preservable "slice" of the cadaver.

The data are supplemented by axial sections of the whole body obtained by [[computed axial tomography|computed tomography]], axial sections of the head and neck obtained by [[magnetic resonance imaging]] (MRI), and [[coronal section]]s of the rest of the body also obtained by MRI.

The scanning, slicing, and photographing took place at the [[Anschutz Medical Campus|University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus]], where additional cutting of anatomical specimens continues to take place.

== Donors ==
The male cadaver is from [[Joseph Paul Jernigan]], a 39-year-old Texas murderer who was executed by [[lethal injection]] on August 5, 1993. At the prompting of a prison chaplain he had agreed to donate his body for scientific research or medical use, without knowing about the Visible Human Project. Some people have voiced ethical concerns over this. One of the most notable statements came from the [[University of Vienna]], which demanded that the images be withdrawn with reference to the point that the medical profession should have no association with executions, and that the donor's informed consent could be scrutinized.<ref>Roeggla G., U. Landesmann and M. Roeggla: ''Ethics of executed person on Internet''. [Letter]. Lancet. 28. January 1995; 345(0):260.</ref>

The 59-year-old female donor remains anonymous. In the press she has been described as a Maryland housewife who died from a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] and whose husband requested that she be part of the project.

In 2000, [[Susan Potter]]—a cancer patient and a disability rights activist—became the third body donor to the project, spending the 15 following years until her death by [[pneumonia]] in 2015 as an outspoken advocate for medical education and a mentor of medical students at the University of Colorado.<ref name=":02">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/01/visible-human-susan-potter-cadaver/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213191114/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/01/visible-human-susan-potter-cadaver/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 13, 2018|title=She gave her body to science. Her corpse became immortal.|last=Newman|first=Cathy|date=December 13, 2018|work=National Geographic|access-date=2018-12-15}}</ref> For nearly two decades,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://boingboing.net/2018/12/14/the-incredible-story-of-susan.html|title=The incredible story of Susan Potter, the "immortal corpse"|last=Pescovitz|first=David|date=December 14, 2018|website=Boing Boing|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-15}}</ref> [[National Geographic]] documented the story of Susan Potter and Dr. Victor M. Spitzer, the director of the Center for Human Simulation at the [[Anschutz Medical Campus|University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus]] who led the NIH-funded project, releasing a [[Documentary film|video documentary]] in 2018.<ref>{{Citation|title=She donated her body to science, and now she'll live forever|date=2018|url=https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/magazine/00000167-2e08-de00-a1f7-af3b905a0000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215225155/https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/magazine/00000167-2e08-de00-a1f7-af3b905a0000|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 15, 2018|work=National Geographic|access-date=2018-12-15}}</ref>  By the time Potter met Spitzer in 2000, she had gone through 26 surgeries and had been diagnosed with [[melanoma]], [[breast cancer]] and [[Diabetes mellitus|diabetes]]:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/woman-agreed-immortal-corpse-science/story?id=59755169|title=Why one woman agreed to become an 'Immortal Corpse' for science|last=Rivas|first=Anthony|date=2018-12-14|website=ABC News|language=en|access-date=2018-12-15}}</ref> her participation in the Visible Human Project marked a significant departure from the original goals of the project, which up until then had only focused on the dissection and imaging of healthy bodies.<ref name=":02"/>

== Problems with the data sets ==
Freezing caused the [[brain]] of the man to be slightly swollen, and his middle ear [[ossicles]] were lost during preparation of the slices. [[Nerve]]s are hard to make out since they have almost the same color as [[fat]], but many have nevertheless been identified. Small [[blood vessel]]s were collapsed by the freezing process.  [[Tendons]] are difficult to cut cleanly, and they occasionally smear across the slice surfaces.

The male has only one [[testicle]], is missing his [[Vermiform appendix|appendix]], and has tissue deterioration at the site of lethal injection.  Also visible are tissue damage to the dorsum of each forearm by [[formalin]] injection and damage to the right [[Sartorius muscle|sartorius]] from opening the right [[femoral vein]] for drainage. The male was also not "cut" while in [[standard anatomical position]], so the cuts through his arms are oblique. The female was missing 14 body parts, including nose cartilage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730404-000-virtual-human-built-from-more-than-5000-slices-of-a-real-woman/#bx304040B1|title=Virtual human built from more than 5000 slices of a real woman|last=Hamzelou|first=Jessica|language=en-US|access-date=2016-09-26}}</ref>

The reproductive organs of the woman are not representative of those of a young woman.  The specimen contains several [[pathologies]], including [[cardiovascular disease]] and [[diverticulitis]].

== Discoveries ==
By studying the data set, researchers at Columbia University found several errors in anatomy textbooks related to males, regarding the shape of a [[muscle]] in the pelvic region and the location of the [[urinary bladder]] and [[prostate]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Venuti |first1=J. |last2=Imielinska |first2=C.|last3=Molholt|first3=P. |date=2004 |title=New Views of Male Pelvic Anatomy: Role of Computer Generated 3D Images |journal=Clinical Anatomy |volume=17|pages=261–271}}</ref>

== License ==
The data may be bought on tape or downloaded free of charge; Currently no license agreement is required to access or download the dataset, however general terms and conditions <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/download/terms_and_conditions.html | title=National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions }}</ref> apply requiring acknowledgement of the National Library of Medicine with any use. Prior to 2019, one had to specify the intended use and sign a license agreement that allows NLM to use and modify the resulting application. NLM can cancel the agreement at any time, at which point the user has to erase the data files.



== Applications using the data ==
[[File:Visible Human inner organs.jpg|alt=Reconstruction of the Visible Humans's Inner Organs|thumb|Reconstruction of the Visible Human's Inner Organs in the VOXEL-MAN Atlas (1998)]]
Various projects to make the raw data more useful for educational purposes are under way. It is necessary to build a three-dimensional virtual model of the body where the organs are labeled, may be removed selectively and viewed from all sides, and ideally are even animated. Two commercial software products accomplish the majority of these goals, the VH Dissector from Touch of Life Technologies and from [[Voxel-Man]] the [https://www.voxel-man.com/3d-navigators/inner-organs/ VOXEL-MAN 3D Navigator Inner Organs] <ref>Hoehne K. H. et al.: [https://www.voxel-man.com/3d-navigators/inner-organs/ VOXEL-MAN 3D-Navigator: Inner Organs. Regional, Systemic and Radiological Anatomy.] Springer Electronic Media, New York, 2003 (DVD-ROM, {{ISBN|978-3-540-40069-1}}).</ref> - now freely [https://www.voxel-man.com/3d-navigators/downloads/ downloadable].  NLM itself has started an [[open source]] project, the [[Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit|Insight Toolkit]], whose aim is to automatically deduce organ boundaries from the data.

The data were used for [[Alexander Tsiaras]]'s book and CD-ROM ''Body Voyage'', which features a three-dimensional tour through the body.<ref>Tsiaras A.: Body Voyage: A Three-Dimensional Tour of a Real Human Body. Warner Books, New York, 1997 ({{ISBN|0-446-52009-8}}).</ref>

A "Virtual Radiography" application creates [[Digitally Reconstructed Radiographs]] and "virtual surgery", where [[endoscopy|endoscopic procedures]] or [[balloon angioplasty]] are simulated: the surgeon can view the progress of the instrument on a screen and receives realistic tactile feedback according to what kind of tissue the instrument would currently be touching.

Several other educational applications utilized form the visible human project include: multiple interactive anatomy computer software programs ([[Primal Pictures]]/Anatomy.tv, Anatomage), multimodality image restoration for hospital patients, body system relationships, and volumetric data.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Visible Human Project Projects Based on the Visible Human Data Set Applications for viewing images|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/applications.html|website=U.S. National Library of Medicine|access-date=26 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Projects Based on the Visible Human Data Set: Products|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/products.html|website=U.S. National Library of Medicine|access-date=30 September 2022}}</ref>

The male data set was used in "Project 12:31", a series of photographic light paintings by Croix Gagnon and Frank Schott, and is the male Caucasian cadaver on the Anatomage Table 6.0 application.

== See also ==
* [[3D Indiana]]
* [[Anatomography]]
* [[Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit]]
* [[Primal Pictures]]
* [[ZygoteBody]]
*[[Susan Potter]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Images of human anatomy from the Visible Human Project}}
* [https://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/visible_human.html Home page of the project], including links to the various other projects that use the data
* [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8653448/ The Visible Human Male: A Technical Report], Detailed history of methods used to prepare the male cadaver and gather image data as published in the free article in the ''Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association'' 1996
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060214190019/http://visiblehuman.epfl.ch/index.php Visible Human Server] by the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). Extensive Java applets to view, extract and animate slices. Also applets for 3D feature extraction.
* [http://www.toltech.net/ Touch of Life Technologies] A commercial website which produces the VH Dissector, a virtual dissection program that uses the Visible Human [https://www.voxel-man.de/museum/web-en/image-galleries/vh-gallery/embed.html datasets.]
* [https://www.voxel-man.de/museum/web-en/image-galleries/vh-gallery/embed.html VOXEL-MAN 3D Images of the Visible Human]
* [https://www.voxel-man.de/museum/web-en/io-iframe.html VOXEL-MAN 3D Interactive Scenes of the Visible Human's Inner Organs]

* [http://vhp.med.umich.edu/ University of Michigan Visible Human Project page]

{{National Institutes of Health}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Human anatomy]]
[[Category:Anatomical simulation]]
[[Category:Anatomy websites]]