3D model of lumbar spine

Revised Surgical sketches

I have made some alterations to the sketches I posted last time, for a Lumbar Laminectomy. These images show a different version of the procedure, I'm still working out the details.

Sunday at TSA

Laminectomy Sequential

Initial sketches for surgical illustration sequence, an L4-L5 Laminectomy. A laminectomy is the removal of the posterior arch of bone of a vertebra or vertebrae in order to relieve pressure on the underlying spinal cord and/or spinal nerves. It is a common surgical procedure for the treatment of severe spinal stenosis and is often an integral part of more advanced spinal procedures. These sketches are probably still rife with errors, but better to work those mistakes out now on paper than inside the 3D applications I will be using for the final images.

Operating Room sketches

Here are some of my sketches from observing live surgeries this semester.
Cerebellar tumor removal:
Intradural tumor removal:
L4-5 Spinal fusion and laminectomy for spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis thesis:

L4-5 laminectomy for spinal stenosis:


Pterional craniotomy for internal carotid aneurysm:

ZBrush Quadruped

Surgical prep model

I will be observing a spinal fusion procedure tomorrow and in anticipation built a basic thoracic vertebra to play around with. Still needs a lot of detailing, as well as inferior articular facets, but I would like to bring this into ZBrush to complete. I posted my first ZBrush pieces in my program's communal blog, BMC Sketch-a-Day: http://bmcsketch-a-day.blogspot.com just the other day.