Transforming Your Complex Science into Beautiful, Clear, & Memorable Visuals
Laura Maaske - Medimagery LLC Medical Illustration
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Is your complex science in need of effective, focused drawings?
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Is heavy information boring or misleading your audience, when beautifully rendered illustrations or animations could engage and excite them?
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Are your current illustrations disunified?
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Do you need bold and powerful visuals to strengthen your company’s message?
Don't let these obstacles stop you! They are my everyday skills. I transform complicated science into elegant visuals for clients world over, so their audiences understand their messages precisely as intended.
Explore my work below. Then call me to discuss any project. I will guide you to find possible options and offer the best pricing for your needs.
Stages of Atherosclerotic Coronary Artery Disease Illustrated
Illustrated Stages of atherosclerotic Plague Development. Atherosclerosis is a vascular destructive condition of the blood vessel so that the wall of an artery holds an accumulation of a cholesterol-based materials. “Arthero” refers to the artery. “-sclerosis” means hardening or loss of elasticity of a blood vessel. This is a digital illustration created as part of a traditional flipbook. It has been purchased and copyrighted by Merck Pharmaceutical, 2000. Medical illustration prepared by Laura Maaske – Medimagery LLC. Below is an explanation of the atherosclerotic progression.
Organelles: Components of the Human Cell
The Human Cell: Cell Illustration If you shrunk your body three million times you would be surrounded by 30 trillion cells made up of DNA from your own body. But as most of these cells are red blood cells, there are only 5 trillion tissue cells. You would soon notice, via the electrical surges, a profoundly busy network in communication around you.
Illustrated Gastric Stomach Layers: The Three Layers of the Stomach
3 smooth muscle layers of the stomach, together are called the muscularis externa. They are made up of (1) Outer longitudinal layer; (2) Middle circular layer; (3) Inner oblique layer. Each has a different function.
Medical Illustrations of Abdominal Organs & Digestive System
The digestive system has two main functions: (1) Convert food into nutrients your body needs, and (2) Rid the body of waste; its organs designed to digest.
Liver Resection Illustrations: Laparoscopic Left Lateral Liver Sectionectomy
Surgical Liver Illustration Series of the Laparoscopic Left Lateral Liver Sectionectomy. I am illustrating for Dr. Shiva Jayaraman of St. Joseph's Health Center, Toronto. © 2105 Laura Maaske - Medimagery LLC
Illustrated Human Skeleton
This is a medical illustration drawing of the human skeleton. The human skeleton has two major components: the axial skeleton and the appendicular skeleton. The axial skeleton creates the upright stature of the human body, transmitting weight to the other regions of the body. It includes the vertebral column, the rib cage and sternum, and the skull. The appendicular skeleton includes the pelvis, the arms, and the legs. Its function is to protect the organs and to support movement of the body.
Illustrated Inflammation & Pathology of Acne | Acne Development Illustrations
Acne vulgaris, simply known asacne, is a progressive skin disease in which the sebaceous glands of hair follicles are clogged with oil from the skin (sebum) and dead skin cells. It is diagnosed with the appearance of characteristic whiteheads, seborrhea (increased oil-sebum secretion), blackheads, pimples, oily skin, and occasional scarring of the skin on the cheek, forehead, chin, and back. These are the places on the body with the densest population of sebaceous follicles. Acne affects almost 80 percent of teenagers and young adults. The onset of acne depends to some extent on testosterone and androgens which begin to circulate in the body at this time, in both boys and girls. Acne is characterized by comedones (blackheads), papules (swellings without pus), pustules, nodules (gathering of swellings), or seborrhea (excessive sebum discharge). And it can cause hyper pigmentation or even scarring. Acne is increasingly considered to be an inflammatory disease at
Visions of the Prenatal Development: Human Embryo & Fetal Illustrations
The embryo illustrations and fetus illustrations in the video above reveal fetal development beginning at 6 weeks of gestational age and progressing through each week, with summary text, until the final 40th week of pregnancy. At each week vital information about development is offered, along with a comparatively sized vegetable or fruit, to mark the size of the growing baby.
Brain Anatomy & Illustration | Metaphors in Medicine
The hippocampus is to your brain just as the keyboard is to the computer's hard drive. The hippocampus is not where your memories are stored. But you depend on it to store memories.
Gastric Surgery Illustrations: Laparoscopic Intra-Gastric Resection for Submucosal Proximal Gastric Tumor
drew the surgical illustrations below to reveal a specific technique for a surgical resection procedure to remove a stomach tumor. The procedure is a Laparoscopic Intra-Gastric Resection for Submucosal Proximal Gastric Tumor. My illustrations reflect the particular surgical approach taken by Dr. Julie Hellet of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada, for whom I prepared the drawings. The description below is my own endeavor to explain the procedure based on conversations with Dr. Hallet. The procedure as depicted for Dr. Julie reflects the actual surgical case of a 59 year old patient with a tumor mass on the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ), which is defined as the point where the lower esophagus joins the top of the stomach. Particularly, the tumor was localized to the lesser curve of the stomach, below the GEJ. The patient did not have symptoms of a tumor. The tumor was found coincidentally by clinicians
Illustrating the Lateral Approach to the Left Laparoscopic Distal Pancreatectomy
The Laparoscopic Distal Pancreatectomy is a surgical procedure performed to remove both solid and cystic tumors from the distal pancreas. Tumors of this type to this area of the pancreas usually affect middle-aged adult women. Surgeons aim to preserve as many of the critical splenic and pancreatic vessels as possible. Careful effort is made to preserve the surrounding tissues. This way, the blood supply to vital pancreatic tissues is not disturbed. The procedure is performed laparoscopically as this is less invasive than an open surgical technique, and offers a more cosmetic impact.
An Illustrated Ovarian Transposition: Oophoropexy
I created this surgical illustration series on the oophoropexy, or ovarian transposition. This is a surgery in which a woman's ovary is moved to a different part of her abdomen so that radiation can be safely performed. Later in her life, the surgeon may move the ovary back to its proper position, giving the woman a better chance to become pregnant.
Medical Illustration Gallery
Here are just a few of the medical illustrations I've prepared for clients. Feel free to contact me with any questions about the illustrations or about pricing.
Spermatogenesis, the Development of Sperm, and the Sketch to Illustration Process
Although I am an illustrator, I am still always looking for beautifully prepared animations and illustrations. This one is an evocative display of cell division. If you didn't already have a sense of the dramatic life of a cell, you will after watching this:
Ideas I’d Like for Medical Illustrations
Recently I read that our digestive tract have more neurons than a domestic cat has in its whole brain. So when I read that microbes in our guts may be controlling the moods we experience in our brains, it came as not such a surprise. The particular strain of microbes in your gut may be responsible for emotional health as well as your physical health. They may determine your sense of fear or anxiety or relaxation and calm. Stephen Collins, McMaster University, Canada, was the first to make this connection, in his studies on rats. Research is being done on humans now, by UCLA's Center for Neurobiology of Stress, Emeran Mayer, M.D.
The Pull to the Countryside
Centralized Healthcare. Drawing Physicians to Rural America with the AHA. Written & illustrated by Laura Maaske, MSc.BMC, Medical Illustrator & Medical Animator| e-Textbook Design This October 1st opened enrollment of the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA), which is the most sweeping social change for Americans since the Social Security Act Roosevelt signed in in 1935. The AMA has praised this event as historic. And with the government taking a stronger control in healthcare, there will be a guiding hand.
Untying the Knot of Human Heart Formation: Your Heart is a Double Helix Spiral, Unfolds Along Embryo Heart Folding Patterns
When I looked at the heart for the first time I saw a circumferential basal loop. And then I saw a descending limb and an ascending limb. And they curl around each other at a helix and a vortex, except for the ventricle. And the angles at which they go is about 60 degrees. 60 degrees down and 60 degrees going up, and they cross each other in that way. For years people had wondered why this happened. I realized this is really a spiral. And I began to think about spirals. And I began to understand that spirals are almost the master plan of nature in terms of structure and in terms of rhythm.… if you pick the middle of the spiral up you form a helix. And of course the heart is a helix.
Science Fiction No Longer: Mind controlled Robotic Limbs
They’re Here! An early September morning, apples ripe out my window. I was speaking with Dr. Albert Chi, a pioneering surgeon for advanced prostheti ...
A Line to my Heart: My Career and Life as a Medical Illustrator
As a student medical illustrator, I knew what I wanted to learn. I wanted to wrap my mind around the science and the drawing skills I would require in the future. I already had an undergraduate degree in zoology, and our courses in the Division of Biomedical Communications were to be shared with the medical students at the University of Toronto, so science was heavily on my mind.
Illustrated Hirschsprung’s Disease
Hirschsprung's Disease is a childhood gastrointestinal disorder which is often treated surgically. Surgical treatments do not always repair or correct the enterocolitis and debilitating constipation, but it does offer relief. The disease is named after Harold Hirschsprung, who was the first to describe th condition in 1886. The APHS, for whom I prepared these illustrations, no longer exists. So many distressed parents have written to me over the years, whose children have been diagnosed with this condition, and regarding this brochure, that I would like to provide the only resources I know for assistance and support for this condition:
Nature & Patterns | Science, Medicine, Art, & Photography
What can we learn about the design of the universe, as we look to the body for clues? My question finds me at a somewhat broken place where I have observed a great deal of disconnectedness. But recently I am beginning to observe in those same patterns, a common architecture. I wonder if this sense is real. I want to find design parallels using science, art, philosophy and all the truth traditions as tools. I want my professional life and my personal life to lead me down this path of exploration.
Since I was a child in school, frustrated with textbook drawings, I’ve been excited about making complex information more understandable and beautiful. Having an extensive background in both science and art, with an undergrad degree in zoology and a Masters of Science in Biomedical Visualization (MSc.BMC), I integrate these fields in my daily work to create professional medical visual materials. I prepare pharmaceutical MOAs and illustrations for biotech firms. I create health promotion materials, biomedical animations, conference talk illustrations for slide presentations, and publishing medical diagrams. I create medical-legal exhibits, personal injury case illustrations, medical malpractice case illustrations using the extensive medical records, and biomedical art or scientific illustration and animation of all kinds.
I love my client relationships and I sincerely welcome you to reach out with all your ideas and challenges so I can resolve visual problems and create beautiful, workable, powerful solutions for you and your business.
Laura