This exhibition is devoted to the world of medical imaging of the body. It provides a comprehensive survey
of the state of the art of these techniques. The focus is on diagnostic applications and hence on their
contribution to the improvement of the quality of life. Aiming at information and instruction on this subject
of topical interest, the exhibition presents an important area of the growing world of technical images that
literally get under your skin.
These noninvasive techniques allow us to look inside the
living body with a precision that was unthinkable only a
few years ago. They concern every one of us because
scanning the body in the course of a lifetime has become
taken for granted in medical practice, beginning with
ultrasound monitoring of the fetus. Last but not least, the
peculiar beauty of these pictures and the secret magic of
their messages exert a powerful effect on our aesthetic
perception, far from disease and hospitals.
Contents and presentation
The spectrum of the medical-imaging technology presented covers six fields: X-ray, computed tomography,
magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear imaging, ultra-sound scanning and endoscopy. Apart from the depiction
of anatomic details, the specific value of these imaging techniques is their ability to show various functions of
the organism, such as the flow of blood or the activity of the brain.
As all these imaging techniques work with fluorescent
screens or monitors, we decided to use these windows
into the body as a creative leitmotiv. In front of 24
live-sized figures wearing these screens and monitors,
the visitor comes across his alter ego, as it were, where
he will find the diagnostic images exactly in the places
on the body where they were taken. This display device
serves essentially to arouse curiosity and to invite
further exploration of the different techniques. At the
same time, this large group of figures with their strange
attachments will not fail to impress even those who are
not interested in medical details.
The figures are arranged according to different parts of the body and their medical examination. Spoken
explanations and legends provide commentary. The area with the figures is separated by a transparent skin
from the rest of the exhibition space.
Integrated in the skin surrounding the area with the figures, the outer surfaces of large luminescent boxes
present the six different diagnostic techniques with their devices, schematic diagrams of their function,
commentaries and pictures of their clinical application. The insides of these boxes show the historical
dimension, illustrating the enormous progress in diagnostics with medical-imaging by showing graphic
representations of dissected bodies dating from the 17th century on.
A separate area contains four computer terminals where visitors can try the software programs allowing
virtual interior views and voyages through the body that are commercially available for educational purposes
and edutainment. A film on medical-imaging and its uses in clinical diagnosis is in preparation.
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