Amanda Miller – VT Scholar Presentation (5 Minutes)
This visual research project is designed to support medical expert witness testimony and provide a judge and jury with an engaging, didactic, knowledge building experience to assist them in visualizing three-dimensionally, and enable understanding of the full extent of multiple traumatic brain injuries in a personal injury case. Advancements in medical imaging technology now allows for the use of 3D volumetric radiographs. Volumetric imaging provides more comprehensive information than 2D imaging (e.g. CT scans and MRIs), but is more complicated to interpret, especially for a non-medical audience. These radiographic images can be enormously challenging for a judge and jury to understand. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to create and evaluate a demonstrative evidence presentation that incorporates volumetric radiographic imaging, combined with three-dimensional anatomical models and animated sequences to improve juror understanding of complex medical information.
A design research study of the 3D medical legal animation will be conducted with a mock jury, personal injury lawyers, and medical expert witnesses. The pre/post-test data on knowledge improvement and design feedback survey results will be used to inform the final iteration of the animation. The design research study results will also contribute to the scholarly advancement of the medical legal visualization field.