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Visible Human Project EnhancementIn the mid-1990s, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Visible Human Project produced a revolutionary image database that provides anatomically detailed, transverse CT, MR and cryosection images of a complete male and female cadaver <www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/ visible_human.html>. In conjunction with this project, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) recently released the PSC Volume Browser, a new graphic based interface and retrieval system. The Volume Browser is considered a 3D imaging breakthrough, allowing users to view uncompressed datasets from a desktop computer that typically would not have the capability to view such data. It allows users to view images from any angle, slice through a section to see inside, and trace and label sections. According to PSC, when the Volume Browser is used with the NLM’s Visible Human datasets, the software ‘provides a versatile, self-teaching resource in human anatomy for medical students and a tool for planning of surgery and radiation therapy.’ 
Currently, the software client <www.psc.edu/biomed/research/VB> is available for use with Mac OS X1 and Windows-based machines with Internet 2 or other high-speed Internet connections. A version for lower speed broadband and dialup connections is planned for the near future. --Fran Yarger Image courtesy National Library of Medicine |
