Medical Modeling: reproducing skulls and brains.

• Author: Eulberg, Tyera
• Position: Hightech

It would be impossible to ignore the vacant eye sockets of the skulls lining the conference room walls at Medical Modeling LLC, if it weren't for the brains on the table.

The folds and crevices are eerily realistic in their minute detail, as are the blood vessels creeping root-like along the surface. Though the colors aren't convincing--the vibrant blue veins traverse a chalky white brain--the model draws us inexorably into the darkest recesses of the human body. It's an experience made even more mysterious by the discovery of eight lobes instead of four--two brains in one.

The model on the table is one of four different reproductions of the conjoined heads of the late Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani that have been made at Medical Modeling. In addition to the brain and blood vessels, the models show soft tissue, skin and bone structure to within one millimeter of accuracy.

The hope? That the three-dimensional "tactile images" would allow surgeons to perform a successful separation surgery. (Sadly, although the models did allow surgeons to divide the Bijanis, both twins died from blood loss July 8.)

Medical Modeling President Andy Christensen had encountered this "craniopagus twinning" before, building models of a pair of Cairo twins who had come to Dallas for potential surgery.

"We had done a lot of work for these kids in Egypt and the surgeons told us the models were very useful," Christensen said, "they would all see the kids and see the CT scans, but holding it in your hand and feeling the scale is a totally different thing, And it let all the surgeons get on the same page. So when I heard about this case, I contacted Raffles Hospital and said we'd like to help.

"For us, it was truly a priviledge to be involved in 'Operation Hope,' and to give the surgical team all of what our technology had to offer. We were saddened by the tragic outcome, but we will keep our resolve and try to push the boundaries of advanced medical imaging forward, using this experience to spur us on in helping other patients."

The models are based on computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, both of which build 3-D digital images by closely packed 2-D pictures. Using computer software, Medical Modeling can then select one specific structure, or combine structure data to create a custom model.

Though this technology was...