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Materials Today - Technique reveals buried image in famed illustrator’s painting

Technique reveals buried image in famed illustrator’s painting

06 September 2009

Scientists have reported use of a new X-ray imaging technique to reveal for the first time in a century unprecedented details of a painting hidden beneath another painting by American illustrator N.C. (Newell Convers) Wyeth. The non-destructive look-beneath-the-surface method could reveal hidden images in hundreds of Old Master paintings and other prized works of art, the researchers say. The scientists reported the research at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Jennifer Mass and colleagues note in the new study that many great artists re-used canvases or covered paintings with other paintings. They did this in order to save money on materials or to let the colors and shapes of a prior composition influence the next one, she says. Art historians believe that several of Wyeth’s most valued illustrations have been lost from view in that way.

One of these so-called lost illustrations depicts a dramatic fist fight and was published in a 1919 Everybody’s Magazine article titled “The Mildest Mannered Man.” Using simple X-ray techniques, other scientists previously showed that Wyeth had covered the fight scene with another painting, “Family Portrait.” But until now, the fine detail and colors in the fight scene have been lost from view. Nobody has seen the true image except in black and white reproductions.

The new instrument, called a confocal X-ray fluorescence microscope, was developed at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) national X-ray facility. The instrument reveals minute details in hidden paintings without removing paint samples. It shoots X-ray beams into a painting and then collects fluorescent X-ray “signals” given off by the chemicals in the various paint layers. Scientists can link each signal to specific paint pigments. In addition to revealing the original image, the method is providing new information on Wyeth’s materials and methods. The same technique may ultimately reveal hidden images in paintings by other famed artists, the researchers say.

Materials Today - Technique reveals buried image in famed illustrator’s painting

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BBC NEWS | UK | England | Mannequins aid maternity training

Mannequins aid maternity training

The study showed complications were dramatically reduced

A new way of training staff using mannequins has dramatically reduced complications from childbirth, a study of maternity units has found.

The new method involves using an artificial mother and child and has proved so successful that it may be taken up in the United States.

The hospitals that took part in the study were in Taunton, Exeter, Truro, Southmead, Gloucester and Cheltenham.

A spokesman said staff had proved very good at managing the new techniques.

Jo Crofts of Southmead Hospital added: "What we were doing in the study was actually assessing people on a very difficult situation.

"People across the south west region were exceedingly good at managing the initial stages which normally work.

"But when it came to more difficult, internal manipulations, that's where the training's needed because you can't practise that in real life and you need to get it right at the time."

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Mannequins aid maternity training

Whole Body Phantom

	Tuesday 22 September 2009

Whole Body Phantom Part No: KKMPBU-50      The Whole body phantom PBU-50 is a life-size, full body anthropomorphic phantom with a state-of-the-art synthetic skeleton, lungs, liver, mediastinum and kidneys embedded in KYOTOKAGAKU original soft tissue substitute. Movable joints allow basic positioning for plain X-ray and training/research applications can be enriched by disassembling the phantom into 10 individual parts (head, limbs and trunk). There are no metal parts or liquid structures. Features -Patient positioning: Right shoulder rotates side ways, abducting to a horizontal position. Left shoulder rotates forward, up to a horizontal position. Elbows bend inward to approx. 90 degrees. Hip joints rotate forward up to 90 degrees, then rotate outward up to 45 degrees, respectively. Knees bend to approx. 90 degrees. The phantom can be held in the supine frog leg position. The limbs and head are detachable at joints and neck for wider applications. The head supporter facilitates various head positions. -Anatomy: Life size synthetic skeleton Hands and feet with bone trabeculae Lungs with pulmonary vessels Mediastinal space Liver Kidneys -Original phantom materials: Radiology absorption and Hounsfield number approximate to human body. -Materials and features: Soft tissue and organs: Urethane base resin (SZ-50) Synthetic bones: Epoxy base resin Joint attachments: Epoxy, urethane with carbon fiber Screws: Polycarbonate Package supplied 1 whole body phantom PBU-50 (separable into 10 parts) Synthetic bones, pulmonary vessels, mediastinal space, liver, kidneys are embedded 1 head supporter 1 set of replacement joint connectors and screws (1 piece for each) 1 flat head screwdriver 1 set of sample X-ray films 2 carrying cases