VR allows scientists to explore, interact with the brain
Scientists from the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering and the University of Geneva in Switzerland have developed a virtual reality (VR) technology that is taking research and data of the brain to an entire new dimension.
Images are captured by light-sheet microscopes and transformed into a 3D image, which scientists can explore by wearing virtual reality goggles and using hand-held pointer to highlight and select projected data, according to a recent article in Interesting Engineering.
The Wyss Center owns one of just three light sheet microscopes in the world, which can image individual neurons five times thinner than a piece of human hair, according to the article.
“The immense data volumes produced by today’s high-performance microscopes are driving the development of new methods to visualize the brain. We have developed this virtual reality system to reconstruct cellular level neuroanatomical data in 3D space. The system provides a practical solution to experience, analyze and quickly understand these exquisite, high-resolution images,” said lead author of the study Stéphane Pages, a staff scientist at the Wyss Center and senior research associate at the University of Geneva.
The newly innovative technology was presented in November 2017 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C.
A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.