The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Retinology and Biomicroscopic Laser Surgery

Dr. Carl Glittenberg on medical visualization with CINEMA 4D

The main focus of research at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Retinology and Biomicroscopic Laser Surgery is the study of the pathogenesis, and the development of new therapies, for Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD). This disease is the main cause of blindness in patients over 50 years of age in the industrial world.

The institute has also successfully developed new surgical techniques in the area of diabetic eye complications and vascular occlusive retinal diseases.

When the institute wanted to help other scientists by sharing its findings, it looked to CINEMA 4D. Now the animations produced in CINEMA 4D bring even the most complex medical processes to life in a visual format that is easy for all to understand.

The CINEMA 4D pictures and animations have generated a huge amount of interest. So popular are they that they have been shown at medical conferences, on Austrian national television, and at surgical training courses as well as published in various medical scientific journals and text books, as well as in Austrian national newspapers. They've also picked up oodles of awards, including:

- "Best of show" award at the 2004 meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

- Second place in the category Refractive Surgery at the Video Film Festival of the 2004 German Ophthalmic Surgeons Convention in Nuremberg.

- The Chroma Pharma Research Award at the 2004 Convention of the Austrian Ophthalmic Society.

- Second place at the Video Film Festival of the German Ophthalmic Society Convention 2003 in Erlangen.

- Fourth place at the Wilhelm-Auerswald-Prize 2002 in Austria.

So what's next on the agenda for the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Retinology and Biomicroscopic Laser Surgery?

Stereoscopic 3D computer animations! The idea being to create a virtual, truly three dimensional, image of the structures and procedures.

Publications and further information:

S.P.I.E. Photonics West, Bios 2004
Computer-assisted 3-D Design Software for Teaching Neuroophthalmology of the Oculomotor System and Training new Retinal Surgery Techniques
Glittenberg C., Binder S.

Advantages of Interactive 3D Computer Animation Technology in the Demonstration of Complex Ophthalmological Subjects
Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2004 45: E-Abstract 252.
C.G. O. Glittenberg. Ludwig Boltzmann Inst. of Ret. Bm. Laser Surgery, Chairmann: Prof. Dr. S. Binder, Vienna, Austria.

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