Cypress, CA-- Christie Digital Systems USA is helping Weill Cornell Medical College's David A. Cofrin Center for Biomedical Information at the HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Institute for Computational Biomedicine (ICB) in New York City to achieve breakthrough findings in biomedical research with its groundbreaking 3D High Definition CAVE.
The 3D CAVE room is powered by eight Mirage 3-chip DLP projectors with active stereo capability, which deliver a resolution of 1920 × 1920 (3.68 mp) per wall, resulting in 3D images that raise the bar in molecular modeling and biomedical research. Dr. Harel Weinstein notes that with the 3D CAVE, the researchers at the ICB are able to explore images at the molecular and cellular levels with a clarity and precision that was previously unattainable. "Images of tissues and biological objects can be twisted, turned and expanded, viewed layer by layer with the flick of the wrist, allowing for an unmatched level of inspection that engulfs researchers in colors and details,” he says.
Vanessa Borcherding, Systems Administrator for the ICB, remarks that the ICB focuses on enabling computational methodologies in the biological sciences, including genome studies, molecular modeling and modeling of cell and organ systems.
The ICB's researchers have used the 3D CAVE to delve into the mechanisms behind short-term memory; elucidate how cocaine and dopamine bind at the neurotransmitter site in the cell’s transporters; and collect valuable longitudinal data on the structural development of the brains of children whose mothers abused drugs.
The 3D CAVE has also enabled the researchers to study MRI images to successfully identify areas of the brain that are underdeveloped in children whose mothers engaged in substance abuse while pregnant. Dr. Luis Gracia, Scientific Application Specialist with the ICB, built a fully automated rendering pipeline using software from Harvard to help researchers visualize the brains of these children over time to track the development of various regions. Being able to get children in therapies sooner based on these study results can correct a large amount of the deficit that they would normally experience if not treated as quickly.