Cincinnati Children’s Media Lab Gives “Going Viral” a Whole New Meaning
Ryan Moore, MD (standing) and Jeff Cimprich confer on a heart animation video.
Cincinnati Children’s Media Lab Gives “Going Viral” a Whole New Meaning
Ryan Moore, MD (standing) and Jeff Cimprich confer on a heart animation video.
If you’ve ever tried to distract a child from a video they’re watching on a phone or tablet, then you’ve witnessed the power of media to capture and hold people’s attention.
While short clips, cute characters and a compelling story are hallmarks of today’s viral internet content, they’re also important components of the educational and instructive materials created by Cincinnati Children’s Media Lab.
In-House Access to Movie Industry-Level Skills and Resources
Ken Tegtmeyer, MD, with support and funding assistance from Hector Wong, MD, started the Media Lab at Cincinnati Children’s in late 2008 and is the department’s director. Before coming here, Ken worked at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital where they had a media lab that worked with the American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and New England Journal of Medicine to produce videos. “I was hoping to recreate what we were doing there but be able to take advantage of the greater resources here in Cincinnati,” says Ken.
One of those resources is Jeff Cimprich, lead medical artist and manager of the Media Lab, who was the first animator Ken hired in January 2009. Jeff has a background in visual effects, and initially intended to find a position in the movie industry but wanted to apply his skills and talents in his hometown. “After I was hired here, I took classes at UC and other medical science courses to learn more of the terminology, and that really helped,” says Jeff. “But really, it's the education from all the doctors I've worked with that has taught me beyond anything I could learn in the classroom.”
That initiative to acquire knowledge has helped the department grow and flourish. “It’s been Jeff’s willingness to dive in and learn that has been key to our success,” says Ken.
Ryan Moore, MD, the Media Lab’s associate director, also planned on a career in the arts, originally pursuing digital arts and medical illustration in college before discovering his love of and talent for biology, and ultimately becoming a pediatric cardiologist. Ryan has taken the lead with many of the team’s innovative cardiology projects, such as Heartpedia, Hank the Heart, surgical animations, 3D prints and more.
The team now includes two more medical artists: Matt Nelson who specializes in 3D animation and rigging (the process of creating an invisible “skeleton” that defines how an object moves) and 3D printing, and Julia Bendon who focuses on medical illustration and 2D animation. The Media Lab also has a post-grad intern (starting in July) and a co-op student who help with the workload while gaining very specialized experience. Patrick Lahni, manager of lab operations for Critical Care Medicine, helped build and establish a lot of the high-end tech and infrastructure that the Media Lab relies on, and he continues to assist the team.
In terms of equipment resources, the Media Lab uses movie industry-level animation production software and several 3D printers that can print in PLA (bioplastic) and various solid/elastic resins. They can also produce reusable molds that cast silicone models and have a dedicated photogrammetry (3D scanning) setup that can convert real-life subject matter into interactive 3D models for digital preservation.
“The big advantage we have of being in-house is that we’re right there to work with the content experts,” says Ken. “They can sit down with the animators and make sure that things look right early in the process before we get too far along and changes are costly.”
Como the dog is featured in one of the Media Lab’s most popular YouTube videos—"Como Makes a Mess”—which has been viewed more than 14 million times.
Going Viral – In a Good Way
The diseases and procedures that many of our patients experience are complex and often frightening to children and their families. To help them better understand what is happening and how we can care for them, the Media Lab’s medical artists and animators work with physicians and other content experts to explain—through animation and narration—the cause of their illness and treatments we can provide.
“When patients and families come into their appointments having already watched the videos, they are more informed and ask better questions,” says Jeff. This can save time during visits and help doctors and patients communicate using a common vocabulary.
“The animations also make it much easier to assure informed consent because families can see just what is being done,” says Ken.
Some of the most visible and sharable work from the Media Lab are its YouTube videos. Characters like Max the Angry Macrophage and Como the dog (who helps explain thrombotic microangiopathy, also known as TMA) have been seen by over 50 million viewers from nearly every country in the world.
The Media Lab also helped create Heartpedia—an interactive 3D mobile app that shows anatomically accurate images of congenital heart defects to help educate patients and families on specific defects and repairs. It’s been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.
“There’s always a lot of joy and pride with every release here,” says Jeff. “In particular, listening to a physician’s feedback after they’ve gotten to use it in clinic for a while and they come back to tell us how much it’s helped is a huge win for us. There’s a lot of time, planning and creativity that goes into everything we do, so when you finally put something out for the world to see and it’s successful, there’s a lot of pride in that.”
Promoting Education Through Leading-Edge Technology
In the Media Lab, art and education combine to ease fears, increase understanding and ultimately improve outcomes for the children who have been diagnosed with a disease or need to have a procedure. While their work has already had a positive impact, the team sees many opportunities to do even more.
“My original goal was to just keep making videos that were enhanced with animation, but the power of handheld mobile phones, 3D printing, augmented reality and virtual reality have greatly expanded the potential for work in 3D space,” says Ken. “Our goal is to continue to expand but try to better integrate with the other 3D work Cincinnati Children’s is doing to align with our goals and produce content that meets the needs of a wider audience.”
“I'd love to work with the groups and topics that maybe don't get as much attention as they should,” says Jeff. “And that's part of why Cincinnati Children's is great—we want to be the leader in pediatric medical education, and this is how we do it.”
If you have a concept that could benefit from illustration, animation, 3D printing or video editing, requests can be made either through the MediaLab e-mail or by contacting Ken Tegtmeyer.
Samples of 3D print models from the Media Lab are used to educate patients about their conditions and potential treatments.