Week 4 | Medicine + Technology + Art

Radiograph of the foot, anteroposterior view, showing the calcaneus (black arrow), talus (white arrow), and navicular bone (arrowhead) 

Throughout my lifetime,  I have had several X-rays and MRI's in my lifetime, mostly on my ankles and feet. I have sat there, for sometimes hours at a time getting X-ray’s followed by an MRI when nothing shows up on the X-ray. After I would get my MRI results back I would have to sit there with a doctor and listen to them tell me what was wrong with me. Most of the time, I was just waiting for them to tell me how long I would have to sit out of my sport. I would usually ignore all the diagrams, and foot replicas showing me where my injury was and why it was crucial for me to not bear any weight on my injured foot.

Anatomical Diagram of the foot 

Throughout all of these visits, I never paid any mind to the diagrams, models, and replicas that are used for teaching and medical instruction. To me, they seemed like the standard decor for an orthopedic specialist’s or chiropractor's office. Looking back on it now, artists work in this specific field has proven to be extremely important for furthering knowledge in the medical field, as well as public’s knowledge on what they look like on the inside.

Henry Gray.
Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical.
Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea, 1866.

Medical illustrations and diagrams not only give the public information, but there is also a subtle beauty in the skill that it takes to create these illustrations. This was evidence upon the publication of Henry Gray’s, Anatomy with illustrations by Henry Vandyke Carter. Carter himself was also in the medical field, but fell into the medical illustration niche in college. Gray’s Anatomy was his first big project, and it immediately reached success. Not only was the book informative, but the illustrations proved to be so comprehensive that it quickly became a staple in medical studies.

Sources:

MERLIN Library Catalog / MU. Accessed April 30, 2019. http://merlin.lib.umsystem.edu/record=b6431598~S1.

"Anatomy Descriptive and Surgical First Edition - Henry Gray." Bauman Rare Books. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/henry-gray/anatomy-descriptive-and-surgical/100863.aspx.

Coris, Eric E., and John A. Lombardo. "Tarsal Navicular Stress Fractures." American Family Physician. January 01, 2003. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0101/p85.html.

Smith, Amanda. "Gray's Anatomy's Forgotten Illustrator." Radio National. July 30, 2014. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/bodysphere/gray’s-anatomy-a-tale-of-two-doctors/5635018.

"Under Your Skin: The Anatomy Artwork of H.V. Carter." Dittrick Medical History Center. October 26, 2017. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://artsci.case.edu/dittrick/2014/05/22/under-your-skin-the-anatomy-artwork-of-h-v-carter/.

"Under Your Skin: The Anatomy Artwork of H.V. Carter." Dittrick Medical History Center. October 26, 2017. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://artsci.case.edu/dittrick/2014/05/22/under-your-skin-the-anatomy-artwork-of-h-v-carter/.