Scientific Visualization & Motion

Seeing Through Knees in Quest to Alleviate Osteoarthritis

Visualizing cartilage quality in support of regenerative-medicine research.

OrganizationNovartis

My contributionAnimation, modified scientific imagery and Drupal web publishing

MRI scan of a knee with cartilage highlighted in blue and green. — Traditional MRI uses magnetic pulses to induce a signal from water molecules in the body. This technology differentiates cartilage (blue/light green) from bone. Advanced MRI uses the same approach but applies it to sodium. The technology identifies proteoglycans (bright green), the special ingredient in high-quality cartilage. Regions devoid of this sodium signal point to defective cartilage. Images courtesy Siegfried Trattnig; modified by Fidelis Onwubueke.

Stained cartilage tissue visualization showing proteoglycans and collagen. — Biopsied cartilage can be stained to reveal the proteins present. Two slivers from the same tissue sample show that proteoglycans and collagen exist together in high-quality cartilage. Proteoglycans appear as a pink stain; collagen appears as a brown stain. Image credit: PhenoPath Laboratories. Animation by Fidelis Onwubueke.

Making the complex clear and engaging.

I produced a cartilage-focused animation and adapted MRI visualizations to help readers understand how researchers assess cartilage quality in regenerative-medicine research.

Capabilities demonstrated

Motion designImage adaptationScientific communicationDrupal publishing

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