Open Invitation

Almost two years have passed since the 1st Users Conference of the National Library of Medicine's Visible Human Project. The user community has now burgeoned to over 1,000 sites in 41 countries adding many new licensees.  This ever increasing interest in the Visible Human data sets raises discussions of basic anatomical and computer research issues which need attention.  The Second Visible Human Project Conference is designed to provide a forum for the discussion of these research issues. Conference participants will have an opportunity to view results obtained and address problems encountered using the Visible Human data sets. The objectives of the conference are to foster scholarly discussions and to encourage new collaborations. On behalf of the National Library of Medicine, we would like to invite you to join us for this event.

Michael J. Ackerman, Ph.D.
Richard A. Banvard, M.A.
Conference Chairs

Inside Out: The Visible Human Exhibit at Baltimore's Maryland Science Center

Baltimore's Maryland Science Center (MSC) chose to feature the Visible Human in a major exhibit.  The exhibit, filled with holograms, 3D imagery, multi-media displays, models and even real tissue,  debuted  in Baltimore, and will travel to Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, among others cities.  Mr. Gregory P. Andorfer,  Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Maryland Science Center will explain why the exhibit was mounted and what public reaction has been.  Mr. Andorfer joined MSC following a twenty year television career, spent primarily in public television, producing major science series and specials, including COSMOS with Carl Sagan, PLANET EARTH with the National Academy of Sciences, and most recently the Discovery Channels highest rated program ever,  TITANIC: ANATOMY OF A DISASTER.  Greg was schooled at Kenyon College,  earned his MBA in Arts Management from UCLA, and was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contributions to science communications.  He virtually  qualifies as man of steel, having completed Hawaii's grueling Ironman Triathlon.  Mr. Andorfer will provide some insight into whether being anatomically correct is compatible with being politically correct.

W. Wang - Volume Segmentation of the Visible Human Data Set 

F. Cordier - Comparison of Two Techniques for Organ Reconstruction Using the Visible Human Data Set  

S. Senger - User Directed Segmentation of the Visible Human Data Sets in an Immersive Environment 

S. Crawford-Hines - Machine-Learned Assist for Boundary Contour Tracing

A. Lane - Sectional Anatomy: Strategy for Mastery

L. Guglielmi Visible Human Data Set - Milano Mirror Site: Additional Services for the Primers and the Professional Users of the VHD 

P. Molholt - Vesalius Project- Creating a Computer Based Anatomy Curriculum 

J. Venuti - Development of a Pelvic Anatomy Lesson: Innovation in Electronic Curriculum for Medical Students

L. Laino-Pepper - A Discussion of Visible Human Color File Formats 

J. Seymour - Virtual Human: Live Volume Rendering of the Segmented and Classified Visible Human Male in a CD-ROM Product for PCs 

T. McCracken - New and Innovative Uses of Visible Human Images and Beyond 

R. Chiou - Unified Analysis, Modeling, Matching and Synthesis for CT Color Texture Mapping from the Visible Human Data Set 

R. Robb - From the Visible Human to Real Patients: Development and Evaluation of Clinical Procedures 

G. Szekely - Anatomical Model Generation for Laparoscopic Surgery Simulation

F. Sachse - Applications of the Visible Human Man Data Set in Electrocardiology: Calculation and Visualization of Body Surface Potential Maps of a Complete Heart Cycle 

H. Le - Practical Applications of the Visible Human Explorer

S. Mitra - Wavelet-Based Adaptive Vector Quantization for High Fidelity Compression and Fast Transmission of Visible Human Color Images 

S. Park - Wavelet-Based 3D Compression Schemes for the Visible Human Data Set and Their Applications 

P. Cerveri - Multi-Resolution Image Representation Through Compression for Speeding Up Navigation in the Visible Human Data Set Archive 

E. Henderson - VHIF: A Prototype File Format for Anatomical Images 

E. Prakash - Goal-Directed Deformation of the Visible Human   

J. Kerr - Anthropometric Scaling of a 3D Anatomy Database Created from the Visible Human Male Data Set   

K. Yang - Finite Element Modeling of the Human Thorax   

C. Werner - Applications of the Visible Human Data Set in Electrocardiology: Simulation of the Electrical Excitation Propagation 

C. Imielinska - Technical Challenges of 3D Visualization of Large Color Data Sets 

M. Ross - High Fidelity Imaging for PC Applications: From Visible Human Data Sets to Patient-Specific Imaging for Internet Communications 

J. Stewart - Improved 3D Anatomic Understanding Through Stereoscopic Visualization 

R. Zhou - Visualization of Anatomical Images Using the 3DSystems Database   

F. Pinciroli - The First Annual Report of the Visible Human Data Set - Milano Mirror Site   

R. Hersch - A Parallel PC-Based Visible Human Slice WEB Server 

J. Seamans - Network Distribution of the Visible Human Data Set 

A. Ade - The Visible Human Female World Wide Web Browser 

P. Cerveri - The VHD-MMS Agent Retriever: An Image Retrieval System Based on Object-Oriented Architecture and Software Agents 

N. Wacholder - An Ontology-Based Navigation System for Human Anatomy 

P. Dev - Structuring Metainformation for Anatomy Images: XML as the Preferred Metainformation Interchange Language 

H. Nogawa - An Application of an End-User Computing Environment for the Visible Human Project 

Michael J. Ackerman, Ph.D., National Library of Medicine
Alexander S. Ade, University of Michigan
Gregory P. Andorfer, Executive Director, Maryland Science Center
Richard A. Banvard, M.A., National Library of Medicine
Pietro Cerveri, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Rui Chiou, Ph.D., State University of New York, Stony Brook
Frederic Cordier, MIRALab, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Stewart Crawford-Hines, Colorado State University
Parvati Dev, Ph.D., SUMMIT, Stanford University
Luciano Guglielmi, Dott., CILEA, Milano, IT
Earl Henderson, National Library of Medicine
Roger D. Hersch, Prof., Ecole Polytechnique Federale, Lausanne, Switzerland
Celina Imielinska, Ph.D., Columbia University
John P. Kerr, Ph.D., Engineering Animations, Inc.
Lisa Laino-Pepper, M.S., Stevens Institute of Technology
Alexander Lane, Ph.D., Triton College
Hao Le, Flashback Imaging Inc.
Donald A. B. Lindberg, M.D., Director, National Library of Medicine
Thomas McCraken, Visible Productions
Sunanda Mitra, Ph.D., Texas Tech University
Pat Molholt, Ph.D., Columbia University
Hiroki Nogawa, M.D., Ph.D., Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan
Sanghun  Park, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea
Francesco Pinciroli, Prof., Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Edmond C. Prakash, Ph.D., Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Richard A. Robb, Ph.D., Mayo Foundation / Clinic
Muriel D. Ross, Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center
Frank B.. Sachse, Ph.D., University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
James Seamans, National Library of Medicine
Steven O. Senger, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
Jon Seymour, M.D., Gold Standard Multimedia, Inc.
Harold C. Slavkin, D.D.S., Director, National Institute of Dental Research
John E. Stewart, Virginia Commonwealth University
Gabor Szekely, Ph.D., Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
Judith M. Venuti, Ph.D., Columbia University
Nina Wacholder, Ph.D., Columbia University
Wenjian Wang, University of Cincinnati
C.D. Werner, University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
King H. Yang, Ph.D., Wayne State University
Ruixia Zhou, Ph.D., National Library of Medicine

Conference Location
William H. Natcher Conference Center
National Institutes of Health
Building 45
45 Center Drive
Bethesda, Maryland  20892
(301) 496-9966

Registration
Please print or type the information requested on the registration formThis information will be used for the participants list and for your name badge.  You may photocopy the registration for others who plan to attend.  Payment must accompany the registration card for the registration to be processed.  Please complete the attached registration form and mail it along with your registration fee no later than September 18, 1998.

Fee:    $295.00 for General Participants
            $150.00 for Student Participants

Please make checks payable to Management Assistance Corporation.  (the Management Assistance Corp. is acting as an agent of the National Library of Medicine in coordinating this event - contact Richard Banvard at the NLM (301-435-3266, [email protected]) if further information on the MAC's role is desired). Purchase orders or credit card payments cannot be accepted.  Each registration includes breaks, an evening reception, conference materials, an abstract book and the conference proceedings CD-ROM.  Mail registration form with full payment to:
    Saundra Bromberg
    Management Assistance Corporation
    11900 Parklawn Drive, Suite 403
    Rockville, Maryland USA  20852-2624

Registration Deadline:  September 18, 1998

Seating is limited.  No onsite registration, attendance is limited to pre registered participants only.

Cancellation Policy:
A refund will be made upon written request prior to September 25, 1998.  However, $25.00 will be retained for administrative costs.  No refunds will be made after September 25, 1998.  Refund requests should be faxed to Saundra Bromberg of Management Assistance Corporation at (301) 468-3364.

Bethesda Marriott:
5151 Pooks Hill Road
Bethesda, Maryland  20814
(301) 897-9400 or
1 (800) 228-9290
Guests are to identify themselves as part of the Second Visible Human Project Conference.  Deadline for hotel registration is September 9, 1998. (After this  date, reservations will be provided on a space and rate available basis).
Rate:  $126.00 per night.
Shuttle service available to NIH Campus.
 

Airports:  The Washington, DC, metropolitan area is served by three airports:  Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, and Baltimore-Washington International Airport.  Shuttle and taxi services are available from each of these airports to Bethesda, Maryland.  Check with ground transportation at the airport for further information.  Washington National is the only airport serviced by the area Metro system.  To take Metro from National Airport, take the Yellow Line to the Gallery Place station, transfer to the Red Line toward Shady Grove, and exit at the Medical Center station.  Signs leading to the Natcher Conference Center can be found at the top of the escalator, and a shuttle to the Bethesda Marriott runs every 30 minutes.

Train:  Union Station is located in downtown Washington, D.C. and is serviced by the Metro rail system Red Line.

Metro:  Metro rail services the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport,  the  Natcher Conference Center and the surrounding Washington metropolitan area.  The Bethesda Marriott hotel provides a shuttle service every 30 minutes to the Medical Center station and the Natcher Conference Center.

Paid visitor parking on the NIH Campus is available next to the Natcher Conference Center (Building 45) on Center Drive.  The fee is $2.00 per hour or $12.00 per day. Parking maps are available on request.

For further information or assistance, please contact:

Saundra Bromberg

Management Assistance Corporation
11900 Parklawn Drive, Suite, 403
Rockville, MD USA 20852-2624
(301) 816-1720
(301) 468-3364  FAX
E-mail:
[email protected]