Illustration
Medical Illustration
Scientific Figures
Patent Drawings
While studying for my classes at Harvard Medical School and conducting research in wearable human-device interfaces, I fell in love with Dr. Frank Netter’s Atlas of Human Anatomy. I realized that to the average person, our bodies are a magical black box. Even once you open up a body, it’s squishy and messy and difficult to navigate. In order to begin to understand these complex systems and the surgical processes that keep them running, we depend on clean, accurate depictions.
In general, technical concepts can be challenging to communicate to a broader audience. Clear scientific figures and technical drawings can make documents like journal articles and patent applications stronger, but they may not always be a strength of the researcher or inventor. This is where my scientific education and artistic bent perfectly intersect.
My work has been featured in such platforms as:
(L) Schematic illustration of a below-the-knee Ewing Amputation
A novel surgical procedure. Two AMIs are constructed in the residuum at the time of primary transtibial amputation. Tarsal tunnels harvested from the amputated ankle joint are affixed to the medial flat of the tibia and serve as pulleys for the AMIs. When the patient is connected to a robotic prosthesis, the proximal and distal AMIs are myoelectrically linked to the prosthetic ankle and subtalar joints, respectively. In the diagram, suture points are denoted by blue crosses and tantalum beads are denoted by yellow circles. Positioning of these elements are representative, and not to scale. Commissioned by Dr. Tyler Clites (MIT Biomechatronics) and Dr. Matthew Carty (Partners Healthcare).
(R) Illustration of musculature of a below-the-knee amputee
Commissioned for a high-visibility presentation by Dr. Hugh Herr (MIT Center for Extreme Bionics).
Agonist-antagonist myoneural interface (AMI) architecture
AMI consists of two free muscle grafts linked in agonist-antagonist architecture and placed subdermally on underlying fascia. In the envisioned implementation, efferent control EMG signals from either muscle will be used to control the external prosthesis (position and impedance). Contraction of the agonist muscle will induce stretch and generate proprioceptive afferent signals in the antagonist muscle, which will provide the CNS with valuable information to improve motor control. Prosthetic feedback will be communicated to peripheral nervous system through FES of the antagonist muscle to control the position or force applied on the mechanicall linked agonist muscle. Commissioned by Dr. Shriya Srinivasan (MIT Biomechatronics).
Conceptual illustration of the agonist-antagonist myoneural interface (AMI)
Mechanical linkage of innervated muscles restores natural contracture-stretch relationships, leading to activation of native mechanoreceptors and bi-directional communication with the central nervous system. AMI function is described as follows: at rest, both AMI muscles are at resting length and tension. When the agonist muscle contracts under volitional or reflexive activation, the antagonist is passively stretched, causing increased spindle discharge in the antagonist. This spindle activity is interpreted by the central nervous system (CNS) as a change in phantom joint position. Force feedback is provided to the CNS as artificial stimulation of the antagonist muscle causes it to contract in opposition to the agonist, creating tension at the agonist musculotendinous junction and increasing agonist Golgi tendon organ (GTO) discharge. This is interpreted by the CNS as torque about the phantom joint. A representation of muscle spindle and GTO state is shown for each condition. Commissioned by Dr. Tyler Clites (MIT Biomechatronics).
Schematic illustration of a below-the-elbow amputation
Commissioned by a Surgical Leader in Lower-Extremity Transplantation
Schematic illustration of a abdominal mesh suture
Commissioned by a Specialist in Cosmetic, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Proprioception from a neurally controlled lower-extremity prosthesis
Schematic of the prosthesis-in-the-loop control architecture for a patient with an agonist-antagonist myoneural interface (AMI). Afferent feedback of prosthetic joint torque is provided via functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the antagonist muscle. The patient perceives this stimulation as a natural sensation of ankle torque. Commissioned by Dr. Tyler Clites (MIT Biomechatronics).
Dual-stage surgery process to construct AMIs
Commissioned by Dr. Shriya Srinivasan (MIT Biomechatronics)
Neuromuscular model of the human ankle-foot complex
Commissioned by Dr. David Hill (MIT Biomechatronics)
Three-phase, photo-kinetic behavior of optogenetic system
Commissioned by Dr. Shriya Srinivasan (MIT Biomechatronics)
