From: "Patrick SCHOULLER" 
Subject:  Entreprise londonniène imagerie médicale  
        cherche partenaire français pour futur projet  
        ECONTENT

Madame, monsieur,
La société PRIMAL PICTURES, The European Online Curriculum in Anatomy
recherche des partenaires pour préparer un projet ECONTENT

Primal Pictures is a new breed of medical education company.  It has created a
unique 3-D digital resource - a fundamental set of tools currently used by
doctors, therapists, institutions, health professionals at all levels, sports
physicians, trainers, healthcare companies, and patients. 

At the heart of Primal’s enterprise is the production of the world’s first
complete 3-D computer graphic model of the human body.  This unique anatomy
content is delivered online, via CD-ROM or DVD.

The product is currently in English; the software includes a detailed text to
accompany the rich array of images.

Primal is now looking for European partners to create the European Online
Curriculum in Anatomy based on this unique resource.  This will involve the
development of country-specific editions of the content, in all major European
languages - along with the tools to allow further customization.

We are looking for both academic and commercial partners.

At a time when the use of cadavers is controversial and limited, and there
is a
worldwide shortage of anatomy teachers, this initiative addresses an urgent
need that will enhance medical and health education at all levels.

About Primal Pictures

Primal Pictures is one of the most innovative companies working in the
field of
3D graphics and medical imaging.  It has developed the world’s first complete
3D model of human anatomy.
This is now available on the Web and CD-ROM and comes complete with a set of
tools to allow teachers to tailor the content to a curriculum.  These tools
include a Test Management System and Study Guides.
Primal Pictures began life as a research group, looking at techniques for
creating high resolution graphics for medical teaching.  It won valuable
grants
from the European Community Media Program, and a number of UK Government
Innovation Grants, including LINK and SPUR grants, to create 3D computer
graphics of anatomy.
Emerging from this research, Primal Pictures has now developed a set of key
assets and underlying software tools which has resulted in a series of CD-ROMs
sold around the world. The CD-ROMs feature 3D computer graphic models of human
anatomy, derived from medical scan data.   3D animations showing function,
bio-mechanics, and surgical procedures supplement the core model.  
Attention to detail and complete accuracy are the cornerstones of all Primal
Pictures’ products.  They are unsurpassed in their completeness, resolution,
and clarity.  They have rapidly achieved the status of benchmarks in each
area,
and are used by the highest level medical professionals as a constant
source of
reference and education.   Yet, because these are attractive visual resources,
they can even by used by school students.  
The company now employs 35 staff in its Central London base and 5 marketing
and
sales staff in USA.  It has developed a core set of skills which involves the
interpretation of medical imaging data, its processing into 3D models and its
display as a coherent CAD-CAM model of anatomical structures.  The company
essentially brings together knowledge of two technically advanced areas:  3D
computer graphics (used in 3D computer animation and feature films), and
medical imaging technologies, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
Alongside the company’s founders, the major shareholders are Taylor & Francis
plc, a leading professional publisher, Credit Agricole Private Equity, an
investment division of France’s largest bank,  the British Smaller Technology
Companies Fund VCT plc, and Capital for Companies VCT plc.

Thousand Use the Products Now!   
·       FOR PHYSICIANS:  Primal’s image library is a powerful reference
resource, presenting the most detailed and accurate pictures of human anatomy
and function ever produced.   
·       FOR STUDENTS:  The Primal resource features self-testing, quizzes,
study
aids, and exam tips - all written by leading professionals in their field.  
·       FOR TEACHING:  Enlivening classroom discussions and conveying
information in a wholly new way.     
·       IN ALLIED HEALTH: Improve performance through education.  Primal’s
products represent a new era in nursing education, physical therapy, and
allied
health disciplines. 
·       FOR PATIENT EDUCATION:  Don't waste time with books or crude line
drawings.  Now explain a procedure or pathology to a patient in 3D, with
accompanying computer animations.  
How does Primal create the images?
The development of each product consists of four key stages:    
·       Data Acquisition - the scanning of relevant anatomy using MRI and
other
methods for scanning the surface anatomy. 
·       Tissue group segmentation, i.e. the separation of different structures
from the data. 
·       Rendering and graphical modeling, i.e. the creation of the 3D model
and
its “look and  feel”. 
·       Interface design  for the multimedia product. 
The Interactive Hand

Here is an example of the painstaking process involved in creating The
Interactive Hand.

STAGE ONE:  Scanning the Upper Limb
The initial scanning of a hand and arm was performed at the Royal Marsden
Hospital, UK.  The hospital possesses the latest Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI) scanner allowing Primal to achieve optimum scan resolution.  This
resolution is required to delineate even the smallest of structure in the
hand,
some of which may be sub-millimeter in length, width or depth.
The data from the Royal Marsden provided a benchmark for the best available,
but it still did not permit the accurate delineation of ligaments, muscles,
etc.
Through links with Prof Peter Abrahams, anatomist at Cambridge University, we
located a group in Cambridge who were to provide some of the finest and most
accurate MRI data ever acquired.
The Herchel Smith Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry is based at Addenbrookes
Hospital in Cambridge, UK. The Herchel Smith Laboratory build their own
scanners and the magnetic coils into which subjects are placed for scanning. 
The best way to achieve optimum resolution was to fix a hand and arm inside a
precise jig which would sit neatly inside the coil.
Maximum resolution transverse slices at 5mm intervals were acquired across
hand
and arm, equating to between 50 and 60 slices.  This sequence was optimized
for
segmentation by hand of muscles and tendons.

STAGE TWO: 3D Reconstruction

The imaging data is then processed at Primal Pictures.  The data is delivered
as 2D cross-sectional slices.  Each slice then goes through a segmentation
process. This involves outlining by hand individual tissue and tracking the
contours of each anatomical feature through successive slices.
These contours create a wire-frame 3D model for each anatomical structure. 
These structures are then amalgamated stage by stage into an accurate CAD-CAM
model of the complete anatomy.
In turn, this model is fed into computer graphics systems and put through a
“texture-mapping” process, a procedure which adds texture, color, shadows and
depth to the 3D model.
This model is then “rendered”, the final process whereby individual full color
frames are created.  When the user moves from frame to frame, the
impression is
gained to moving around a 3D object.


Awards    
·       Interactive Hand - Millennium Product Award from UK Government for
Innovation & Creativity .  
·       Interactive Skeleton - British Medical Association Electronic Product
Gold Award 1996;     
·       International Media in Science 1st Prize. 
·       Interactive Knee Radiology Edition - British Medical Association
Electronic Product Gold Award 1999.  
·       Interactive Shoulder - British Medical Association Electronic Product
High Commendation Award 2000    
·       Interactuve Hip  British Medical Association High Commendation Award
2001 
·       2000 Award from Department of Trade & Industry for the UK’s most
innovative training scheme (for graphics personnel) 
·       2001 Vesalius Award for Medical Illustration (USA premier award for
medical graphics) 
·       2001 Europrix Award  the European Union award for best e-learning and
Education product for Primal’s 3D Interactive Series  
·       2003 Freddie Award Gold Prize for Medical Education


Pour plus d'information : contacter
Laurie Wiseman
Founder & Publishing Director
Primal Pictures Ltd, London
www.primalpictures.com

Laurie Wiseman [laurie@primalpictures.com]

ce message vous est transmis par  
Patrick SCHOULLER
Ministère de l'Economie des Finances et de l'Industrie
Direction Générale des Entreprises - STSI
Représentant national aux comités des programmes IST, E-TEN, E-CONTENT,
SIAP, MODINIS, IDABC
Site : http://www.telecom.gouv.fr
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