Visualization blackboard: visualizing the visible human

Visualization of the human body and its inner structure has challenged artists and scientists for centuries. For 500 years, since Leonardo da Vinci, drawings have been the main resource for learning anatomy because they allow the mixture of realism and abstraction suitable for didactic purposes. With the discovery of X-rays 100 years ago, it became possible to look into the living body. Only since the 1970s have computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) made it possible to acquire image data in three dimensions. Based on these techniques, 3D computer graphics generated the first models of the living body. These represent a tremendous advance for diagnosis and surgical planning, but the resolution is still poor when viewed from an anatomist´s point of view. The National Library of Medicine´s Visible Human Project provided much more realistic data-the Visible Human data set, created at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. This project produced transverse cross sectional photographic images of a male cadaver with a resolution of 0.33 mm and slice distance of 1 mm