More than 1,000 medical images donated for use in YOU! The Experience

Dec 22 2009

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine Department of Radiology donated more than 1,000 medical images to the Museum of Science and Industry for use in YOU! The Experience, a new 15,000-square-foot permanent exhibit that showcases the connection between mind, body and spirit. Nearly 90 percent of the images used in the medical imaging portion of the exhibit were from Stritch's donation. These include radiographs (x-rays), computed tomography (CTs), ultrasound images, mammograms, magnetic resonance (MRIs), nuclear medicine images, and postprocessed 3D data sets.

Touch-screens in the medical-imaging area of the exhibit allow guests to choose which of the various images they want to view. They can see the difference between a healthy and unhealthy organ, see a fetus at different stages of development, observe complex body systems and gain an insider's view of what happens when a bone breaks.

Instrumental in collecting the images were Dr. Terrence C. Demos, professor, Department of Radiology, and Dr. Arcot Chandrasekhar, professor, Department of Medicine.

"We do over 280,000 imaging studies each year here at Loyola. The Museum needed images that would be of benefit to the public to promote awareness about new medical-imaging technology and to help them learn more about the workings of their bodies. We perused images, choosing the ones we felt would be of greatest interest, understandable and most meaningful to people visiting the exhibit," said Demos.

Stemming from Loyola's Catholic-Jesuit heritage, the promotion of education, especially medical education, is paramount to the institution. This commitment is exemplified by the Loyola University Medical Education Network (LUMEN), where many of the exhibit's images were gleaned. Stritch physicians and faculty, including Drs. Chandrasekhar and Demos, have contributed to LUMEN, making it an extensive educational Web site that receives more than 190 million hits a year and a vital component of sharing medical knowledge with medical students and beyond.

"We believe in educational philanthropy here at Loyola," said Chandrasekhar. "It is wonderful that we can share these images that show different ways of looking at the body using a variety of technologies."

"The Museum is so grateful to the Stritch School of Medicine Department of Radiology for this generous donation of time and imagery," said Dr. Patricia Ward, director of science and technology at the Museum of Science and Industry. "These images are invaluable teaching tools for our guests, and allow them to understand the complexity of the human body, and the amazing power of medical technology, in a entirely new way."

"The exhibit is called YOU, and what images a person finds impacting or important will depend on who they are. The great thing about this exhibit is that it allows each individual to experience it in a different and unique way," said Chandrasekhar.

"The idea is to stimulate museum guests to know more," said Demos. "Our hope is that by looking at these images people will become engaged and get inspired to learn more about themselves and about medicine."

The medical imaging portion of YOU! The Experience is the newest educational partnership between Stritch and the Museum of Science and Industry that dates back to the 1930s and the prenatal development exhibit, which has also been reinterpreted for the YOU! exhibit in an area called Your Beginning.