NEW YORK, NY, (August 26, 2002) NYU Medical Center's Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stephen Colvin, MD, and Eugene Grossi, MD, Director of the Cardiac Surgical Research Laboratory announced today a major advance in medical animation technology with the creation of a three dimensional, animated beating heart. Developed in collaboration with CyberFiber, Inc., the animated heart was presented recently at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Western Thoracic Surgical Association in Big Sky, Montana to approximately 400 of the world's top cardiac surgeons.

"We are on the cutting-edge of combining Hollywood animation software with hard scientific methodology," said Aaron Oliker, CyberFiber's CEO and chief animator. Oliker and Dr. Joseph Dayan, President of CyberFiber, expanded and programmed the Alias|WavefrontTM Maya 3D graphics software, to model and animate the dynamic digital heart. Maya has been used in the making of such blockbuster films as Lord of the Rings and Spiderman.

The development of the three-dimensional animated heart took one and a half years to complete, using multiple ovine data sets from a Stanford University study applied to a digital human heart, creating the most detailed and precise beating heart to date.

According to Grossi, "I am extremely optimistic about the future of this advanced medical animation technology with respect to cardiac surgery. Medical animation software integrated into state-of-the-art robotic systems will create a new modality in visualization, so that a surgeon-in-training will be able to practice a simulated surgery through the use of virtual reality. This is a major break-though in medical animation."

Recognized internationally as leaders in cutting-edge surgical technology with Drs. Grossi and Colvin performing the first robotic-assisted valve repair surgery in 2000 and implementing HDTV into the operating room, the cardiac surgical research team in tandem with CyberFiber
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Contact: Deborah Coble or Pam McDonnell
Deborah.coble@med.nyu.edu
212-404-3522
New York University Medical Center and School of Medicine
26-Aug-2002

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