The HotBox: A Visual User Interface to Medical Data

Abstract

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Virtual Soldier Project recently investigated methods to predict outcomes from penetrating wounds based on comparison of complex mathematical models and clinical data including baseline X-ray computed tomography and post-wound imaging. A need of the project was to correlate three-dimensional anatomy to extensive information, including pathophysiology of the wounded soldier, using the anatomical geometry as an interface. To address this need, Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed the HotBox, a user interface that links a given point in space (a voxel) to the structural knowledge ontology describing the anatomy at that location. In addition, the HotBox links the location to the individual's physiological state (vital signs) and a description of the wound. The implementation and use of the HotBox is explained and the implications for the future of medical records, pre-surgical planning, image-guided surgery, and post-surgical treatment and rehabilitation are discussed.