“Redefining the Medical Artist” -- an exhibition curated by Meena Malhotra, a Master's student in the UIC Biomedical Visualization program -- is on view at the International Museum of Surgical Science (1524 N Lake Shore Drive, Chicago) through October 17, 2009. The exhibition’s photorealistic 3-D models are created with the same software video-game designers use. Malhotra's master’s thesis involves developing 3-D models and interactive animations of a dog’s hind leg so veterinarians can learn how to perform a common surgery on dogs with hip dysplasia. Like many of her classmates, she’s brushing up on her programming skills at UIC’s Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), which pioneered several virtual-reality technologies. UIC’s graduate biomedical visualization program is one of only four in the United States; Malhotra cites its partnership with the EVL as evidence that it’s the most progressive. Malhotra finds that the program attracts students who are torn between art and science in college -- many of them doctors’ kids, like herself, whose interest in medicine doesn’t quite extend to medical school.

For the full article see Time Out Chicago, Art & Design - Medical Cool.