Medical Animation News

Multiple sclerosis (MS) research isn't always easy to comprehend, even for healthcare professionals, which is one reason why the results of a newly published study have been spelled out in a short 3D medical animation.

Appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the report essentially determined that the "direction" in which MS typically progresses may be different than previously believed. To wit, researchers once thought that the disease began in the center of the brain and worked its way outward, but the recent investigation revealed that scientists may have had it backwards.

MS is a complex disease of the brain and nerves, making it a perfect candidate for illustration with medical animation clips.

What is multiple sclerosis?

MS is a condition in which the fatty material that coats neurons in the brain's "white matter" - that is, its core region - begins to degrade and unravel, causing nerve signals to be disrupted. Though it was first diagnosed more than 160 years ago, there are still many aspects of the condition that scientists have yet to understand.

They do know that, in the majority of cases, MS is only mildly or moderately severe, causing tic-like spasms and poor muscle control. However, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) warns that advanced cases of MS can be almost totally debilitating.

Unlike many other neural conditions, MS can go through periods of fluctuating intensity, in which symptoms get better or worse with no clear indication why. This phenomenon is a reason why doctors are still endeavoring to get a better picture of how MS progresses in the brain.

And what better way to get a clear picture than by illustrating MS research with a detailed 3D medical visualization?

Animation puts MS in perspective

In the new investigation, researchers from the Mayo and Cleavland Clinics made a startling discovery. Based on brain biopsies, they determined that MS is probably not the "inside-out" neural condition that it has always been considered.

Instead, they determined that demyelination (the unraveling of nerve sheaths) starts on the brain's exterior, beginning in the cerebrospinal fluid and the subarachnoid cushion that surround the gray matter. The team illustrated as much in a simple, one-minute 3D medical visualization.

With luck, such animations may help other researchers conceptualize the disease and its potential treatments. The NINDS estimates that as many as 350,000 Americans have MS.

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.