(Source: gifsanatomy, via apoetsprose)

Heart of Glass: The Art of Medical Models

Gary Farlow can make art out of arteries. He and his team of 10 at Farlow’s Scientific Glassblowing are able to transform the body’s vasculature—and nearly all of its other parts—into an ornate borosilicate glass sculpture, from the heart’s ventricles to the brain’s circle of Willis. “We do almost every part of the body,” Farlow says. “It can take a pretty artistic mind to make some of these things.” With the help of cardiologists, the team creates custom see-through systems for science and medical training. Their anatomically correct models can be designed to simulate blood flow, teach placement of catheters and angioplasty devices, or simply test or demo new surgical gizmos. Individual arteries, veins, and capillaries are shaped and fused together, one at a time. Ground-glass joints are added at the exposed ends so a head, say, can be connected to the carotid arteries should customers want to expand their model. A full-body setup could cost $25,000, so don’t get any bright ideas about using one as a brandy decanter.

(Source: sagansense, via aspiringdoctors)

Timestamp: 1352313420

Heart of Glass: The Art of Medical Models

Gary Farlow can make art out of arteries. He and his team of 10 at Farlow’s Scientific Glassblowing are able to transform the body’s vasculature—and nearly all of its other parts—into an ornate borosilicate glass sculpture, from the heart’s ventricles to the brain’s circle of Willis. “We do almost every part of the body,” Farlow says. “It can take a pretty artistic mind to make some of these things.” With the help of cardiologists, the team creates custom see-through systems for science and medical training. Their anatomically correct models can be designed to simulate blood flow, teach placement of catheters and angioplasty devices, or simply test or demo new surgical gizmos. Individual arteries, veins, and capillaries are shaped and fused together, one at a time. Ground-glass joints are added at the exposed ends so a head, say, can be connected to the carotid arteries should customers want to expand their model. A full-body setup could cost $25,000, so don’t get any bright ideas about using one as a brandy decanter.

(Source: sagansense, via aspiringdoctors)

myampgoesto11:

Alex Konahin: Anatomy (part 1)

(via faatpanda)

Angiogram. Before and after treatment for ischemic stroke

There are several things in medicine that I’m pretty convinced are just plain magic, no science involved. tPA is one of them. I mean, you go from being stroked out to back to normal in a matter of minutes if it works. That has to be magic, right?No.

Alteplase works by attaching to the fibrin in abnormal blood clots, such as those in the arteries supplying the heart or brain. It then activates the production of plasmin, which causes the clots to disintegrate. This unblocks the blood vessel and allows blood flow to resume to the affected organ.

100% science. Because science is fucking bad ass.

(via transportjockey)

Timestamp: 1348062480

Angiogram. Before and after treatment for ischemic stroke

There are several things in medicine that I’m pretty convinced are just plain magic, no science involved. tPA is one of them. I mean, you go from being stroked out to back to normal in a matter of minutes if it works. That has to be magic, right?No.

Alteplase works by attaching to the fibrin in abnormal blood clots, such as those in the arteries supplying the heart or brain. It then activates the production of plasmin, which causes the clots to disintegrate. This unblocks the blood vessel and allows blood flow to resume to the affected organ.

100% science. Because science is fucking bad ass.

(via transportjockey)

Lavender Lotus Brain - original watercolor painting by Michele Banks (artologica on etsy)

“This painting draws together images from neuroscience (neural connections in the brain) and Buddhism (the lotus), to express the blissful aura of the well-meditated brain. Recent scientific research indicates that the practice of meditation produces physical changes in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. Although it’s highly unlikely that meditating on the truth in the lotus will actually cause your neurons to look like this, it’s a fun idea to express artistically. In soft, soothing shades of lavender, purple and deep rose on a background of pale periwinkle blue.”

Timestamp: 1347118020

Lavender Lotus Brain - original watercolor painting by Michele Banks (artologica on etsy)

“This painting draws together images from neuroscience (neural connections in the brain) and Buddhism (the lotus), to express the blissful aura of the well-meditated brain. Recent scientific research indicates that the practice of meditation produces physical changes in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. Although it’s highly unlikely that meditating on the truth in the lotus will actually cause your neurons to look like this, it’s a fun idea to express artistically. In soft, soothing shades of lavender, purple and deep rose on a background of pale periwinkle blue.”

(via nevver)

tr-i-life:

Love this!

sciencesoup:

The Birth of Brain Cells

This might look like a distant web of galaxies captured by a powerful telescope, but it’s actually a microscopic image of a newborn nerve cell. The human brain contains more cells than there are stars in our galaxy, and the most important cells are neurons, which are nerve cells responsible for transmitting and processing electro-chemical signals at up to 320 km/h. This chemical signalling occurs through synapses—specialised connections with other cells, like wires in a computer. Each cell can receive input from thousands of others, so a typical neuron can have up to ten thousand synapses—i.e., can communicate with up to ten thousand other neurons, muscle cells, and glands. Estimates suggest that adult humans have approximately 100 billion neurons in their brain, but unlike most cells, neurons don’t undergo cell division, so if they’re damaged they don’t grow back—except, apparently, in the hippocampus (associated with memory) and the olfactory bulb (associated with sense of smell). The process by which this occurs is unclear, and this image was taken during a project to determine how neurons are born—it actually depicts newborn nerve cells in an adult mouse’s brain.

(Image Credit: Dana Bradford)

(via nurse-on-duty)

Timestamp: 1342884487

sciencesoup:

The Birth of Brain Cells

This might look like a distant web of galaxies captured by a powerful telescope, but it’s actually a microscopic image of a newborn nerve cell. The human brain contains more cells than there are stars in our galaxy, and the most important cells are neurons, which are nerve cells responsible for transmitting and processing electro-chemical signals at up to 320 km/h. This chemical signalling occurs through synapses—specialised connections with other cells, like wires in a computer. Each cell can receive input from thousands of others, so a typical neuron can have up to ten thousand synapses—i.e., can communicate with up to ten thousand other neurons, muscle cells, and glands. Estimates suggest that adult humans have approximately 100 billion neurons in their brain, but unlike most cells, neurons don’t undergo cell division, so if they’re damaged they don’t grow back—except, apparently, in the hippocampus (associated with memory) and the olfactory bulb (associated with sense of smell). The process by which this occurs is unclear, and this image was taken during a project to determine how neurons are born—it actually depicts newborn nerve cells in an adult mouse’s brain.

(Image Credit: Dana Bradford)

(via nurse-on-duty)