Medical Animation News

Though thousands of high school, college and professional athletes endure concussions each year, few know exactly what happens when the brain experiences such a traumatic injury. Fortunately for patients and physicians alike, a recently created medical animation illustrates the mechanics of a concussion.

Created as part of a hypothetical case vignette appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the medical visualization depicts how the brain shifts and rebounds within the skull during a slip-and-fall injury.

Doctors have known about concussion for thousands of years. A paper published in the journal BNI Quarterly explained that even Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician widely considered the "Father of Modern Medicine," was aware of this form of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The scholar's body of writings noted that patients can lose their sight, hearing or other vital functions after a "commotion of the brain," pointing to violent "shaking" as the motion that typically leads to a concussion.

It was not until the 10th century that the Persian doctor Rhazes described a concussion as an injury distinct from other forms of brain trauma, according to a review appearing in the journal Neurology. And believe it or not, scientists didn't have an accurate picture of what happens in the brain during a TBI until the late 1800s.

Today, the situation is very different. Researchers have used medical animations to illustrate the mechanics of a concussion in great detail, and often in stereographic 3D.

In the NEJM medical visualization, the brain and skull are presented in cross section. As the patient's head is shown impacting a hard surface, the brain shifts forward in its bone casing, hitting the front of the skull. As it rebounds, the gray matter then ricochets off the rear of the skull, resulting in a second, minor TBI.

The study notes that a concussion is accompanied by loss of consciousness and, occasionally, a brief seizure. The authors recommend that scanning technology be used quickly thereafter to determine the extent of a TBI.

On average, about 1.7 million Americans suffer TBIs annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency notes that while many concussions are minor, approximately 52,000 result in death each year.

Amerra provides custom medical animations, medical illustrations and interactive medical software. For additional information please contact us at 1.888.9AMERRA or e-mail info@amerra.com.