Soon to be available at Mixko's online shop...

(hat tip: Core77)

Morbid Anatomy, a site known to us as a goldmine of all things artsy in medicine, is looking for folks who have interesting private collections that are dying to be photographed (the pun is, indeed, intended).

From Joanna Ebenstein:

As some of you already know, I recently mounted an exhibition called Anatomical Theatre: Depictions of The Body, Disease, and Death in Medical Museums of the Western World, a photographic survey (see above) of artifacts held in great medical museums of Europe and the United States. This blog is an offshoot of that project.

For my next project, I would like to photograph similar types of curiosities, ephemera, and artifacts, but in this case only those residing in private rather than public collections. If any of you out there have collections that you think might be of interest, or know of anyone else who might, I would love to hear from you. All leads appreciated! All locations considered!

More from Morbid Anatomy...

(hat tip: Boing Boing)

From the artist:

Prosthetics generally lack humanity, style and grace. Often, they look much like landing gear and make the wearer uncomfortable, self aware, and sometimes depressed. By channeling the Eames' use materials and iconic style, we designed a leg with Steve McQueen in mind. We sought to convey a creative use of positive and negative space, a balance of materials and a reflection of the wearer.

This project taught me to expand my use of research materials. We interviewed several amputees in varying stages of acceptance, met with Sephora color specialists to discuss skin tones, and 3D laser scanned actual legs to translate the proportions of the human body into CAD. Through a wide range of techniques, I explored the challenge of designing something with the body in mind.

Product design page: Eames-inspired Prosthetic Leg

(hat tip: Yanko Design)

Belgian artist Wim Delvoye combines X-ray imaging and traditional stained glass techniques to create art we can get excited about.

We can imagine "Calliope" and "Erato" the works seen here, installed in a San Francisco radiologist's window to attract locals needing confidential x-ray services.

Wim Delvoye's x-ray stained glass works...

The rest of Wim Delvoye's online portfolio...

(hat tip: Wooster Collective)

Prior to clicking to see the photo-essay, some of you might want to put down that tasty muffin before it changes its flavor.

More on plastination from Body Worlds.

(hat tip: MAKE: Blog)

From the Life Support project page:

This project proposes using animals bred commercially for consumption or entertainment as companions and providers of external organ replacement. The use of transgenic farm animals, or retired working dogs, as life support ‘devices’ for renal and respiratory patients offers an alternative to inhumane medical therapies.

Could a transgenic animal function as a whole mechanism and not simply supply the parts? Could humans become parasites and live off another organism’s bodily functions?

Project page: Life Support

(hat tip: We Make Money Not Art)

We would love for the company to add the ability to slow the heart down, and to allow to focus more on specific internal structures, to see their function during the cardiac cycle. An ECG at the bottom of the screen would be a major asset as well.

Try it out by moving the slider below to morph between the external and internal representations.

Project info and the full size version at Hybrid Medical Animation.

(hat tip: UberReview)

We'd like to introduce you to one of our long time heroes: Dr McNinja (pictured above)

McNinja is a general practitioner/podiatrist/dentist. His receptionist is a gorilla named Judy. The rest of the McNinja family is known to show up in the story, and they're happy to remind the good doctor how disappointed they are in his career choices. Other characters include his recently-acquired sidekick: Gordito Delgado: a mustachioed 12-year-old raptor-riding dual six-shooter wielding bandito, and The Clone of Ben Franklin, with whom Dr McNinja went to medical school.

So...if you can appreciate a good cocktail of absurdity and dark comic book humor, we strongly recommend you make the jump over to The Adventures of Dr. McNinja and waste a few hours.

A couple of our favorites below the jump...

From Philips:

'Celebrating Pregnancy' is a pregnancy scenario for the future. From conception to childbirth and beyond, bringing a child into the world is both a joy and a challenge. While medical advances have made the experience safer than ever, hospital environments have hardly changed. Mothers (and fathers) are often treated like patients with an illness, rather than parents-to-be. Wouldn't it be wonderful if prenatal care and, in particular, fetal ultrasounds were as comfortable as they are exciting? And what if the entire experience was one that could be shared with the entire family, including the experience of that first view of the baby? If a picture is worth a thousand words, a 4D virtual image with audio is priceless.

A 4-D time-lapse ultrasound image like this may elicit warm emotions as parents distinguish their unborn baby's facial features and fingers for the first time, but the same cannot usually be said about the clinical environment in which such images are created.

Under the slogan "Celebrating Pregnancy," Royal Philips Electronics is intending to transform these "uncomfortable and impersonal" experiences into "a much more playful, enjoyable format for the parents," says Frank Rettenbacher, a product designer for Philips.

Last year, Philips researchers began modeling ultrasound visits after a spa-like experience, complete with ambient lighting and new technologies intended to reduce stress. Images are streamed onto a big, bubble-like screen. With large, clearer images, Rettenbacher says, doctors may be able to "diagnose abnormalities a lot earlier than [they can] today."

Press release of this and other design concepts from Royal Philips Electronics...

(hat tip: bookofjoe)

Company page: DNA Art

Flashback: DNA Portraits™ by DNA 11