Australian biomedical engineer Melissa Knothe Tate has unveiled her top secret project to create a map of the human body that allows you to zoom in down to cellular level in the way Google maps can take you from a view of the Earth down to focus on a single house.
Her team have used the new technology to explore the human hip joint and the development of osteoarthritis – you can see what this is like using this tool.
“This is the first Google Maps of the human body,” Knothe Tate of the University of New South Wales said.
Future research could reverse the deterioration of tissues, she said.
“This could open the door to as yet unknown new therapies and preventions,” she said.
The imaging technology was originally invented for the computer industry by German optical and industrial measurement manufacturer, Zeiss.
Originally published by Cosmos as ‘Google Maps for the body’ could open way to reverse tissue damage
Bill Condie
Bill Condie is a science journalist based in Adelaide, Australia.
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