King’s researchers are developing the tools for cardiologists to study the anatomical detail of the heart with unprecedented detail. When a disease hits you, your heart adapts to it changing its shape. Knowing the sometimes subtle details in these changes may be the difference in spotting the presence of a risk early enough in the healthcare process.
Dr Pablo Lamata
18 January 2019
Big Heart Data at Science Gallery London: How no two hearts are the same
Science Gallery London announces their 2019 programme of events featuring research from King’s School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences.
Following a highly successful premiere in late 2018, Science Gallery London is now set to launch their 2019 programme of events for their first season titled Spare Parts, in which research from King’s School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences will be showcased in the exhibit ‘Big Heart Data.’
Dr Pablo Lamata (King’s Department of Biomedical Engineering) and artist Salomé Bazin of Cellule Studio collaborated to exhibit the complex variation of the human heart through a visual curation of 3D printed hearts and interactive digital displays. They hope by presenting the minute details of each individual heart, that 'Big Heart Data’ can provide the public with a deeper understanding of how abnormalities, like those associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), lifestyle and genetics, are present in every person.
Bazin has translated Dr Lamata’s research into a visual, 3D display that prints and designs the heart live on site using real anatomical data and interactive touch screens which will allow audiences to visualise how various factors affect shape and structure.
The combination of geometrical and computational models of the heart with 3D printing has the potential to allow for bespoke surgical and interventional devices. Cellule also sees this technology as providing a unique opportunity for patients to have greater involvement in pre-operative planning, and consequentially to facilitate greater personalisation in healthcare.
Salomé Bazin
The exhibit will recreate the visual models which clinicians are now using to help understand and treat patients with CVD. Dr Lamata and Bazin hope that this research will influence and advise personalised and preventative guidance through the improved understanding of the heart.
The ‘Big Heart Data’ exhibition opens on Thursday 28 February until the 12 May 2019 at Science Gallery London.
Image Credit: © Salomé Bazin from Cellule Studio