Three-Dimensional Hologram Player Displays Human Organs

An interactive holographic video player shows live footage of internal organs created from a magnetic resonance image (MRI) or computerized tomography (CT) scan.

Developed by Holoxica, the 3rd generation holograms are created by gathering multiple slices of an internal organ, such as a brain or a heart, from a normal CT or MRI scanner. These slices of data are then assembled through a diffractive holographic screen to produce monochromatic voxels. The voxel images are not projected, but are instead holographically reconstructed using diffractive optics elements to bend or form light, producing the images in mid-air.

The holographic image can then be rotated, panned, enlarged, and isolated in real time by the user using the dynamic display, presenting an array of opportunity for the future of surgery and anatomical study. Holoxica has so far produced digital holograms of almost all human organs, including the liver, lungs, heart, brain, and the entire human anatomy (skeleton, vascular system, nerves, muscles and major organs). The results are presented in many public venues including the MIT Museum (Boston, MA, USA), and The National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh; United Kingdom).

“Take current imaging techniques like CT scans where radiologists are trained to interpret the multiple levels of data, or ‘slices’ of the brain. Medical consultants, specialists and surgeons are not trained to do this and therefore need to build up a mental stack of the scans or rely on second-hand interpretation,” said Javid Khan, PhD, CEO of Holoxica. “For the first time, a physician will be able to see a tumor in an impossible part of the brain and make an informed decision; this is also easier for patients to understand what is going on.”

“Although we are looking at targeting medical, scientific, and engineering imaging fields to start with, holographic video will change gaming, communication, and create a new digital revolution,” concluded Dr. Khan. “Our world is three dimensional, our brains are wired for three dimensions. Holoxica’s work is spearheading an entirely new Renaissance for our time. Teaching anatomy with this device will give students a hitherto unrivalled understanding.”

A hologram is a photographic recording of a light field, rather than of an image formed by a lens, and it is used to display a 3D image of the holographed subject, which is seen without the aid of special glasses or other intermediate optics. The hologram itself is not an image, but rather an encoding of the light field shown as an interference pattern of seemingly random variations in the opacity, density, or surface profile of the photographic medium. When suitably lit, the interference pattern diffracts the light, with perspectives that change realistically with any change in the relative position of the observer.