ITG’s Visualization, Media and Imaging Laboratory (VMIL) was a key player in the Mandible Reconstruction Project, using computed tomography (CT) data from a patient about to undergo oral surgery to generate a computer model of an artificial bone implant.
The implant — fabricated at Sandia National Laboratory and a perfect fit — was experimental, but the project successfully illustrated the exciting potential of using imaging technology and artificial material as an alternative to bone harvesting in bone defect surgery. Now, with a Critical Research Initiative grant from the University of Illinois, the project is taking a big step toward future applications. ITG Co-director Ben Grosser said the grant is being used to help develop a software system for the automated generation of implant models that fit existing bone defects. “The hope is we end up with a rough shape that fits a lot of the congruencies of the defect and then the surgeon uses a simple computer interface to refine that model for the specific patient,” Grosser said. “It is exciting because it has the opportunity to change the way this type of surgery is done worldwide.”
The primary mission of ITG is to serve the imaging needs of Beckman researchers, but a secondary goal is technology development projects. One of these projects is Bugscope, an internationally known educational outreach program. Bugscope sessions have allowed more than 200 classrooms from 36 states and six countries to collect more than 33,000 images through remote access to the Microscopy Suite’s scanning electron microscope (SEM). ITG is also a primary contributor to NASA’s Virtual Laboratory project through its development of virtual microscopy software that can be used by students and scientists from around the world. Another big grant, this one from the National Science Foundation, made it possible for ITG to install an X-ray microtomography (micro-CT) instrument in the VMIL. Grosser said the micro-CT unit is the most expensive instrument ever acquired for the VMIL, and is the only one of its kind on campus providing this type of imaging at the 5um scale. “It’s a whole new paradigm of microscopy in that you can see the internal structure of opaque objects without cutting them open,” he said. With a 15 percent growth rate in usage since the start of 2004, ITG’s resources are becoming increasingly popular.
The Integrated Systems Laboratory is also reaching out beyond its facilities at the Beckman Institute in ways that are inspiring novel interactions. Researchers in psychology heavily use ISL’s 3-D immersive virtual reality environments, the CAVE™ and the CUBE™, in their experiments. And now, as part of a project called CANVAS (Collaborative Advanced Navigation Virtual Art Studio), artists also will have access to the intensive graphics capabilities of this technology. ISL is creating a virtual reality environment at the University of Illinois’ Krannert Art Museum where art and technology can intersect in innovative ways. “What we want to do is create an infrastructure down there that almost any artist who wants to work with electronic media can just show up and do things,” said ISL Director Hank Kaczmarski. By working with artists at Krannert, Kaczmarski said ISL benefits by learning more about designing research experiments in the CAVE™ and CUBE™. “The technologies are not just applying technology for the artist, the work of the artist is also feeding back to the physical sciences,” he said.
In addition, setting up the environments away from the Beckman Institute is part of a broader concept of distributive visualization, in which powerful PC clusters at external locations can drive networked resources. “Not only are the resources distributed but the researchers can be distributed and they can interact collaboratively among these spaces,” Kaczmarski said.
Meanwhile, ISL’s CUBE™ and driving simulator continue to be extremely popular facilities for a variety of researchers, especially those involved in perceptual psychology research. For the first time, papers on perceptual psychology experiments done in the CUBE™ have been submitted. Current CUBE™ projects include research into such topics as human spatial navigation and object memory. The driving simulator, with its new integrated eye-tracking system, has been host to several research projects, including one studying the effects of cell phone usage on automobile drivers. ISL took over daily operation of the CAVE™ from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications in 2004 and now uses this virtual reality environment invented at Illinois to design experiments destined for the CUBE™.
The Biomedical Imaging Center is also expanding its research parameters after becoming a Beckman resource facility in 2002.
BIC associate director Tracey Wszalek said projects done there not only assist researchers, but also serve to explore the potential of the Center’s trio of powerful magnets. “While it is a service facility, it also very much has its own research direction,” Wszalek said. “Its goal is to be a very multi-modal, research-driven center. Our engineers do their own research, a number of investigators come in, and people collaborate. So it’s intended to have a life of its own in addition to providing services to people who come in.”
The people who come in have provided some intriguing tests for the magnets. Anthropologists have used the machines for imaging baboon heads, physical therapists have looked at superficial layers of the skin, and researchers from speech and hearing science have imaged cadaver tongues. The requests often force BIC engineers like Brad Sutton to get creative. “Your first reaction a lot of times is we can’t image that,” Sutton said. “Then you figure out what part of that you can actually image and see if that makes sense for what the person is trying to look at.”
Wszalek said the challenge of meeting unusual imaging requests helps BIC engineers push the limits of what the magnets can do, which is an integral part of the facility’s own research mission. “We look at everything because it’s another opportunity to gain more information on how the machine works and what do we need to tweak to get our best picture,” Wszalek said.
While the unusual requests test the equipment and engineers, BIC continues to be a key resource for psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists who use its 3 Tesla Allegra MR headscanner for neurological and cognitive fMRI studies. Beckman faculty members like Gabriele Gratton, Monica Fabiani, Denise Park, Greg Miller, Wendy Heller, and BIC Director Art Kramer use functional MRI in their investigations into a wide range of cognitive issues. “It’s a pretty exciting environment to work in because we have some of the top psychology researchers who are really applying the things I develop and the fMRI engineering knowledge to real-world problems,” Sutton said.
With three machines possessing gradient technology and with knowledgeable engineers overseeing them, BIC is a unique asset. “We’re just sort of a microcosm of the Beckman in the sense that we’re an opportunity for very diverse fields to come together to try and solve a problem,” Wszalek said. “We have a very good marriage of engineering and cognitive science and that’s only going to grow in strength.”