Application Story3D immersive technology at Weill Cornell Medical College enables visionary breakthroughs in biomedical research

Customer: The Weill Cornell Medical College's HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Institute for Computational Biomedicine

Location: New York, NY

Industry/Market: Biomedical research

Requirements: High resolution images required to view •a constellation of volumetric, spatial and topological data sets

Had to fit in an incredibly small footprint•

Summary:Four surface immersive environment •including walk-on floor

Eight 1920 x 1080 Christie Mirage HD3 •digital projectors

3.28 megapixels per wall•

Utilizes Christie Twist™ for precise and •seamless edge-blending

A 41% increase in resolution over SXGA•

Tracking and interaction device for •enhanced sense of presence within the data

Results:Superior 3-D images for scientific research, •including molecular modeling, MRI and confocal reconstructions, and gene network modeling

Quick, accurate decision making •

A more natural, intuitive method of •interacting with data sets

Comprehensive understanding of complex •mechanisms in biomedical research

Reduced time to discovery•

Provides a unique collaborative environment •to aid in the teaching and discovery process

Christie's CAVE™ paves way for more targeted research

One would expect great things to come from a world-renowned center of academic medicine and biomedical research. The David A. Cofrin Center for Biomedical Information at the HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Institute for Computational Biomedicine of the Weill Cornell Medical College features 3D stereoscopic immersive technology. The Institute's researchers have leveraged this technology to help guide them to discovery in a number of different domains, from providing new insights into the mechanisms behind short-term memory, to elucidating how cocaine and dopamine bind at the neurotransmitter site in the transporter molecule, to collecting valuable longitudinal data on the structural development of the brains of children whose mothers abused drugs.

Founded in 1898, and affiliated with what is now New York Presbyterian Hospital, the Weill Cornell Medical College is among the top-ranked clinical and medical research centers in the country. In addition to offering degrees in medicine, Weill Cornell also has PhD programs in biomedical research and education at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Along with neighboring Rockefeller University and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Weill Cornell has established a joint MD-PhD program for students to intensify their pursuit of their tripartite mission of education, research, and patient care. Together, these institutions form an extensive Tri-Institutional research enterprise.

The world's first 3D high definition visual environment

CAVE™ is a trademark of the University of Illinois

Above - A researcher interacting with a model of a DNA strand wrapped around a histone protein. Mutations of the histone "tails" have been implicated as having a role in the creation of cancerous cells.

The goal of the Institute for Computational Biomedicine (ICB) at Weill Cornell is to enable computational methodologies in biological sciences, such as genome studies, molecular modeling, bioinformatics and systems biology.

To that end, the Technology Management Team collaborates with the researchers to take the 3D data sets generated by next-generation data acquisition tools such as MRI and confocal microscopy, as well as data sets generated computationally on the Institute's supercomputers, and render them in an immersive, 3D environment. The result is scientific visualization that can bring a new perspective to research - where investigators can very quickly analyze and draw conclusions that would otherwise not be possible with conventional research techniques. Analyzing 2D information such as slice data could conceivably take days, weeks or months to study, without necessarily arriving at equally comprehensive conclusions.

“We take in data sets and render them in ways not achievable on a desktop. This helps envision things you simply can’t any other way, because you get the big picture very, very quickly without extrapolating from disparate pieces of information,” explains Vanessa Borcherding, System Administrator, in the ICB. “One researcher may bring in a test model into the 3D space to share, to teach and collaborate. You get the broad view and see the detailed interconnections. With immersive technology and visualization, you can challenge hypotheses to help further understanding and the overall discovery process.”

Imaging science is playing an increasingly important role in all areas of medicine. The Weill Cornell Visualization Facility is the world’s first high definition 3D virtual reality environment. It uses the highest resolution blended images possible, projected on three walls and a walk-on floor. An interactive tracking device, worn by the primary user, coupled with a hand-held electronic wand to manipulate the images, allows multiple researchers to “move around” simultaneously within a three-dimensional data set or structure. They can explore and manipulate their models from a nearly infinite variety of perspectives, and experience an

unparalleled sense of immersion that cannot be matched using a computer desktop.

“The ability to take 2D data and turn it into 3D objects to very quickly make decisions is a unique feature of this facility,” Borcherding comments. “It’s a more natural, intuitive way of doing things. You don’t get the same sense of being inside the data with 2D technology – the ability to literally walk around in your data. It is an incredibly beautiful, pleasant way to visualize.“

Weill’s Cofrin Center is the only facility of its kind in a biomedical research institution. Designed from the ground up, the Visualization Center’s creation was due largely to a generous donation from Dr. David Cofrin, who, together with Dr. Harel Weinstein, shared a vision to build a facility to visualize information in a manner that simply isn’t possible in any other way. Dr. Weinstein is the Maxwell M. Upson Professor of

Physiology and Biophysics and chairman of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics and is the Director of the Institute. The Visualization Center is part of the Cofrin Center for Biomedical Information in the HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Institute for Computational Biomedicine and is located within the newly built Weill Greenberg Center.

The facility’s immersive CAVE (computer-assisted virtual environment) is powered by eight Christie Mirage HD3 digital projectors – the industry’s first native 1920 x 1080 HD resolution 3-chip DLP® projectors with active stereo capability. The projectors feature 41% more resolution than previous projection

technology, delivering superior 3D images for molecular modeling and other data-rich areas of biomedical research.

The CAVE is very high resolution – each blended wall is 1920 x 1920 pixels and the whole CAVE resolves to 14.74 megapixels. An extremely compact design, the overall footprint including access allowance is 25’w x 20’ d x 11.5’ h. The two projectors per wall utilize Christie Twist™ blending technology and Christie’s optional dark scene optical blending to create a seamless image. The system uses 100% digital signal transmission and video signal routing is all done via Cat-5e, allowing the signals to route from the data center with very minimal facility impact.

Christie completely staged this solution in-house at the manufacturing facility in Kitchener, Ontario and all equipment was validated in operation. With this staged solution in place and a replication of the image generator and client software configuration installed, Weill Cornell was invited to come for a factory inspection to view and use the CAVE before it was shipped to them.

“The use of this powerful new tool will increase quickly in all aspects of biomedicine research in the

College and will allow us to attract the best and brightest minds in the world." - Dr. Harel Weinstein, chairman, Department of Physiology and Biophysics,

director, Institute for Computational Biomedicine

Working with the Department of Ophthalmology, the ICB enables them to visualize high-definition OCT scans of patients with various retinal pathologies. The visualization allows them to get a better appreciation of the layers of a patient's retinal structure as well as gain a better understanding of the spatial relationships of the presented morphologies. Image Copyright Luis Gracia, Ph.D.

For the most current specification information, please visit www.christiedigital.comCopyright 2010 Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. All rights reserved. All brand names and product names are trademarks, registered trademarks or tradenames of their respective holders. Canadian manufacturing facility is ISO 9001 and 14001 certified. Performance specifications are typical. Due to constant research, specifications are subject to change without notice. Printed in Canada on recycled paper. Weill Cornell Application Story June 10

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Inside the CAVE, the images are phenomenal. Angles and high-definition views of the data models surround the researchers. Images are changed with the flick of a wrist. Components of the image are layered on, separated and selectively removed from the screen completely to reveal inter-connectivity. With a click, the image is enlarged, until the scientists are literally standing inside their data, able to walk through perspectives and pathways they would never be able to see otherwise. It is an unparalleled use of technology that has piqued the interest of several other medical schools who are considering investing in similar technology.

A team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia Medical Center collaborated on a scientific study utilizing the ICB's CAVE to determine how antidepressant drugs, cocaine and amphetamines interact with brain cells. The researchers say that their breakthrough research may pave the way for more targeted medication therapies for a host of psychiatric diseases, most notably in the area of addiction.

“These findings are so clear and detailed at the level of molecular behavior that they will be most valuable to discovering more effective therapies for mood disorders and neurologic and psychiatric diseases, ” said Dr. Weinstein.

To extend the capabilities to research on the brain, Luis Gracia, PhD., a Scientific Applications Specialist, created a fully automated data pipeline using software from Harvard to take 2D MRI images or slices and reconstruct them into fully segmented 3D renderings of the brain. The vivid images can be twisted and turned and expanded for close inspection to such dimensions

that one is engulfed in color and detailed, segmented views of brain regions. From this virtual model, researchers were able to identify areas of the brain that remain underdeveloped.

Zeynep Hulya Gumus, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics - whose work “Effects of Tobacco Smoke Gene Expression and Cellular Pathways in a Cellular Model for Oral Leukoplakia” was published in the April 2008 inaugural issue of Cancer Prevention Research - is utilizing immersive visualization to further her work. In a collaboration with Jason Banfelder, Assistant Professor and Technology Engineer in the Department of Physiology and head of the Technology Management Team that manages the CAVE facility, she is utilizing a purpose-built application that Banfelder and other members of the ICB wrote to help make sense of the vast jumble of data that biological networks can create.

“Molecular interaction networks for genes and proteins are fundamental to our understanding of normal cellular processes, as well as diseased states and underlie important applications in drug discovery and biomarker identification,” Gumus explained.

“Visualization of larger and complex biological networks is technically challenging, but the rewards are substantial, as effective visualization techniques can lead to comprehensive, intuitive and contextual understanding of complex mechanisms in biomedical research and reduce the time to discovery and diagnosis. Our on-going research is on addressing this difficulty with CAVE technology, so that we can identify elements of large interaction networks that reveal insights to the underlying biology and suggest potential drug targets.”

As a world-renowned center of academic medicine and biomedical research, Weill Cornell Medical College is strategically positioned to train future physicians and scientists. Graduate school and staff recruitment is an important goal to Weill Cornell. With high-definition 3D immersive technology at the heart of their Visualization Center, the facility enhances their ability to attract highly qualified students and researchers, providing even greater opportunities for collaboration in biomedical discovery and application to medicine.

A researcher explores the neural activation pattern of a zebrafish that has been exposed to visual stimuli. These patterns are studied to give us insight into the mechanisms of how humans process and store information.

Zeynep Gumus interacting with a 3D visualization of a gene expression network. Compared to the 2D version on the left, it is much easier to quickly find the "hubs", or genes that are most central to the regulation network.