We’re excited to announce that medical illustration company Body Scientific received the Award of Merit for their Polycystic Kidney Model at this year’s annual AMI conference. Designed to educate patients receiving treatment for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease, an inherited disease in which fluid-filled cysts develop on the kidney, Body Scientific’s model allows patients to participate in a hands-on experience that helps prevent further progression of the disease. They comment:

With the kidneys deeply hidden inside the body, most practitioners (besides surgeons) and patients have not ever seen a polycystic kidney. The relative size difference is shocking. Sometimes a shock factor is necessary to get the message across to a patient that may be at high risk for developing the disease. Managing the disease and preventing further progression is always the goal, and if a patient holds a polycystic kidney in their hand, they may just listen and adhere to their doctor’s orders.

This project not only aids healthcare professionals in their understanding of the complex disease, but also allows the topic to explained to patients using user-friendly modelling, which helps to increase overall public knowledge about a disease that has not been well understood. Body Scientific elaborates:

Prior to our model, we were aware of a silicone-based polycystic kidney model in the industry, showing varying degrees of disease progression…However, the cost and materials of this model is not conducive to mass production and distribution among urologists. This is where our client came in, with a request to create an educational piece, affordable to distribute to many healthcare providers in the industry. The client wanted an educational product that showcases a diseased kidney (life size), compared it to a healthy kidney and had relevant disease information for both patient and prescriber.

Body Scientific was founded in 2005 to provide medical illustration and design services to the healthcare industry. Since that time Body Scientific has created thousands of illustrations for publishing companies, developed hundreds of patient education products for pharmaceutical companies to brand promote their products, and pursues international business. For more work samples, view their portfolio here.