Alumni

Jay D. Miller
M.S. Biomedical Engineering, 1985

Less Invasive, Less Expensive

Today's magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and computed tomography (CT) devices, such as new-generation multislice scanners, quickly capture a massive amount of patient data. Helping physicians make use of this data is BME alumnus Jay D. Miller (M.S., 1985), President and CEO of Vital Images, Inc., a provider of 3D medical imaging software for use in diagnostic imaging, disease screening, and treatment planning. Vital Images' flagship software product Vitrea 2 was highlighted on NBC's Today show as a less invasive, less expensive screening tool for precancerous colon polyps. While traditional colonoscopy is still the gold standard for detecting colon cancer, Jay thinks it is just a matter of time before improvements in CT scanning, the software product, and the physician's skill in reading the resulting images converge to make virtual CT colonography a screening tool of choice.

Vital Images' flagship software product Vitrea 2 stacks standard MR and CT images one on top of the other through a high speed volume visualization process optimized for about 30 clinical applications. The resulting 2D and 3D views of human anatomy can be navigated in real time to visualize and understand internal structures and disease conditions.