Two technical universities work on new data visualization for medicine

Researchers from the St. Petersburg Peter the Great Polytechnic University and the Tomsk Polytechnic University are undertaking a joint project aimed at developing a brand new data visualization and storage technology for cardiac case records in clinics and hospitals, the St. Pete university announced. 

Both universities will be doing their research within the framework of a broader collaboration program between Russian academia and the Russian-speaking Academic Science Association (RASA), which brings together Russian-speaking researchers working across the world. 

Last year, RASA helped set up in St. Petersburg the RASA-Polytech Multidisciplinary Research Center, the Association’s first in Russia. The Center’s six research laboratories working on biological and medical issues are led by ethnic Russians currently working abroad. For example, Nikolay Vasilyev, an MD at Harvard Medical School and the RASA-USA president, leads St. Pete Polytechnic’s Medical Technologies Lab, the one that kick-started this new data visualization project in partnership with the Engineering Graphics and Design university chair led by Prof. V. M. Ivanov. 

Now, scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic in Siberia have joined in the effort. 

The project calls for the development of a method to build 3D models of a patient’s heart, using data from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT). 

“A model built will help a physician have a clear picture of his patient’s heart, make any incision and identify pathology. Longer-term plans include the use of augmented reality technology to enable doctors to turn what now is a bulky case record into a simple QR code, a move that would enhance special database technologies and help medical institutions adopt a brand new approach to visualizing and keeping case-related data,” explained Prof. Ivanov.

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