Medical Animation News

Child abuse is an insidious and widespread problem in the U.S., and at first glance it might not seem like a medical animation could help stem the tide of youth victimization. However, a report from the University of Texas Medicine Health Science Center San Antonio (UTMHSCSA) has announced that a newly created medical visualization may help healthcare professionals spot child abuse.

Neglect, victimization, physical harm, molestation and psychological maltreatment are quite common, according to Child Protective Services (CPS). The Administration for Children and Families states that CPS receives about 6 million reports of abuse annually.

The agency investigates more than 60 percent of these cases, finding close to 1 million instances of childhood abuse in a given year.

According to Dr. Nancy Kellogg of the UTMHSCSA and the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children's Hospital, the problem is that the signs of abuse can be very subtle, and many children are reluctant to open up about what happens at home.

Add to that the fact that many doctors and paramedics are not trained to identify the symptoms of abuse, and it is clear that many cases of maltreatment go overlooked longer than they have to.

In order to remedy this situation, Kellogg teamed up with James Anderst of the Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, to create an educational 3D medical animation illustrating the most common signs of child abuse.

Kellogg, the division head of child abuse pediatrics at UTMHSCSA, explained that the combination of certain injuries may not necessarily trigger any warning bells in a healthcare professional's brain.

"What happens is we get a child in a medical setting and are left with trying to find out what happened when the injury occurred," she explained in a recent press release. "Often the best information comes from law enforcement and CPS investigators, but because they aren't physicians and don't know the mechanisms of injury, they often don't know what information is important to us to make a determination of abuse or neglect."

Her new 3D medical visualization aims to correct this problem. Using computer-generated clips, narration, text and several forms of medical imagery (X-rays, MRIs and CT scans), the animation illustrates certain injuries and modes of abuse.

Dr. Anderst noted that while this new tool cannot prevent child maltreatment, it may be able to help stop its recurrence.

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.