Head and Brain Injuries
A medical legal visualization case study
Jane Doe had a car accident which resulted in her head bumping onto the dashboard and breaking her zygoma bone. She later had a surgery to correct the position of the bone. However, years later, she was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, which is potentially a long-term harm from the accident. Demonstrative evidence is needed in court for her attorney to present the case for compensation.
Jane's attorney brought all the medical records and CT/MRI scans to ASMA Studios (ASMA - Alex Ho, Sherry An, Mimi Guo and Abeeshan Selvabaskaran) for visualization solutions. ASMA Studios proposed four static exhibits to accurately show what Jane has gone through – her mechanism of injury, a trauma illustration including fractures and soft tissue injury, an illustration on the surgical process, and an exhibit showing her brain injury and event timeline.





Faculty advisor
Stephen Mader
Medium/Software
3D slicer, ZBrush, Procreate, and Adobe Illustrator
Final presentation format
Four horizontal panels for screen presentation
Primary audience
Demonstrative evidence for jury in court
Work Process
From medical records to visual plans
After digesting all the medical information, and reconstructing 3D skull from CT scans, we selected and drafted up information that will be presented on each panel.
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Mechanism of Injury by Sherry An
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Trauma Illustration by Mimi Guo
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Surgical Illustration by Abeeshan Selvabaskaran
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Brain Injury and Timeline by Alex Ho

Reference
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Agur, A., & Dalley, A. F. (2019). Moore’s Essential Clinical Anatomy (6th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
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Balakrishnan, K., Ebenezer, V., Dakir, A., Kumar, S. K., & Prakash, D. (2015). Management of tripod fractures (zygomaticomaxillary complex) 1 point and 2 point fixations: A 5-year review. Journal of Pharmacy & Bioallied Sciences, 7(Suppl 1), S242. https://doi.org/10.4103/0975-7406.155937
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Cornelius, C.-P., Gellrich, N., Hillerup, S., Lisi,ptp, L., & Schubert, W. (n.d.). Indirect approaches to the zygomatic arch (temporal and transoral approaches). AO Foundation Surgery Reference. Retrieved October 24, 2021, from https://surgeryreference.aofoundation.org/cmf/trauma/midface/approach/indirect-approaches-to-the-zygomatic-arch-temporal-and-transoral-approaches#temporal-gillies-approach-skin-incision.
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Cross-sectional anatomy of the brain. (2021, September 13). IMAIOS. Retrieved October 26, 2021, from https://www.imaios.com/en/e-Anatomy/Brain/Brain-MRI-in-axial-slices
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Debowski, M. (2018, July 14). Brain lobes - annotated MRI | Radiology Case Radiopaedia.org. Radiopedia. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://radiopaedia.org/cases/brain-lobes-annotated-mri-1
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Douglas, D. B., Ro, T., Toffoli, T., Krawchuk, B., Muldermans, J., Gullo, J., Dulberger, A., Anderson, A. E., Douglas, P. K., & Wintermark, M. (2019). Neuroimaging of Traumatic Brain Injury. Medical Sciences, 7(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/MEDSCI7010002
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Jenkins, A., Hadley, M. D. M., Teasdale, G., Macpherson, P., & Rowan, J. O. (1986). BRAIN LESIONS DETECTED BY MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING IN MILD AND SEVERE HEAD INJURIES. The Lancet, 328(8504), 445–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(86)92145-8
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Lee, B., & Newberg, A. (2005). Neuroimaging in Traumatic Brain Imaging. NeuroRx, 2(2), 372. https://doi.org/10.1602/NEURORX.2.2.372
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Levin, H. S., Amparo, E., Eisenberg, H. M., Williams, D. H., High, W. M., McArdle, C. B., & Weiner, R. L. (1987). Magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography in relation to the neurobehavioral sequelae of mild and moderate head injuries. Journal of Neurosurgery, 66(5), 706–713. https://doi.org/10.3171/JNS.1987.66.5.0706
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Meythaler, J. M., Peduzzi, J. D., Eleftheriou, E., & Novack, T. A. (2001). Current concepts: Diffuse axonal injury–associated traumatic brain injury. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 82(10), 1461–1471. https://doi.org/10.1053/APMR.2001.25137
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Narayana, P. A. (2017). White matter changes in patients with mild traumatic brain injury: MRI perspective. Concussion, 2(2), CNC35. https://doi.org/10.2217/CNC-2016-0028
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Otake, S., Taoka, T., Maeda, M., & Yuh, W. T. (2018). A guide to identification and selection of axial planes in magnetic resonance imaging of the brain: https://Doi-Org.Myaccess.Library.Utoronto.ca/10.1177/1971400918769911, 31(4), 336–344. https://doi.org/10.1177/1971400918769911
Additional references
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Direct CT and MRI scans from Vanessa Williams’ diagnosis
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3D Reconstructed models from case CT scans