Radiologist Anders Persson of Linköping University Hospital, Sweden, reveals the body's hidden structures to clinicians by applying new techniques in magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography to produce stunning computer-enhanced three-dimensional images. The winner of the 2008 Lennart Nilsson Award for scientific photography, he tells Nature how visualization can revolutionize medicine.
What drives your work?
Medical demand should lead technical research to the benefit of patients. I want to show the surgeon the real science, such as the true size, shape and colour of a vessel. Presenting precise and colourful details regarding the position, length and extent of aneurysms in arteries, for example, can save lives.
Why are these techniques also useful for post-mortem imaging?
Some forensic aspects, such as bone fractures, gas within wounds or metal under the skin are not visible in conventional autopsies. A virtual autopsy using three-dimensional (3D) medical imaging thus provides invaluable information about the crime scene, helping to determine the cause of death and saving time.
How did you become interested in medical photography?
As a young radiologist, I realized that 3D and four-dimensional X-ray visualization would rule the medical world in the future. Thirty years ago, I established a set of software functions for routine clinical use of 3D imaging, but it took many lectures to convince colleagues and vendors that we needed better visual tools.
What are you working on today?
I'm building a new tool called synthetic MRI, in which magnetic resonance images can be collected much more quickly for each patient. And they provide realistic values for tissue characteristics that will give a more quantitative picture of the development of pathology. I am also trying to sharpen techniques for visualizing the chemical constitution of the body, using multi-energy computed tomography.
What inspires you?
By providing beautiful images to benefit patients, I can give them vital information without scaring them. Also, the feedback I get from students stimulates me immensely to improve and explore new technical avenues.
Additional information
See http://tinyurl.com/3zsclj for Anders Persson's 3D images. Interview by Marta Paterlini, a writer based in Stockholm, Sweden. martapaterlini@nasw.org
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Persson, A. Q&A: An insider's view of the body. Nature 455, 1036 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/4551036a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/4551036a