Medical-legal Illustration
Medical-legal illustration is a specialized area of the medical illustration field that creates visuals for court cases.
This can be for the plaintiff or defendant. Colors are usually more vibrant, and unnecessary anatomical details are omitted. It’s important to tell the story the legal team is trying to communicate while keeping the exhibit medically accurate. The illustrations are used to help the jury understand the extent of the injuries and the anatomical areas that are involved, which can be difficult to understand without the right visuals. Creating these illustrations involves working with the lawyers and medical experts involved in the case. It’s also helpful to view the key medical records, including any radiographic scans and operation reports to create these medical legal illustrations.
Click on each illustration below to enlarge.
Medical-legal Illustration: Knee (chronic microtraumas vs acute traumatic injury). This illustration was created for a defense case. It shows a comparison of what a knee with chronic degeneration would look like compared to a knee with a traumatic injury from an accident.
Medical-legal Illustration: Healthy Knee vs Post-Operative Knee. This illustration was created for a defense case. It shows normal knee anatomy compared to some of the patient's procedures.
Cervical Spine (general population vs acute traumatic injury)
Medical-legal Illustration: Degenerative changes of the shoulder vs. Acute traumatic injury of the shoulder. This medical illustration was created for a defense case. The client wanted to show what the plaintiff's shoulder looked like vs what their shoulder would have looked like with an acute traumatic injury.
Medical-legal Illustration: Degenerative changes of lumbar spine vs Acute traumatic injury of the spine. This medical illustration was created for a defense case. The client wanted to show what the plaintiff's lumbar spine looked like with degenerative changes vs. what their spine would have looked like with an acute traumatic injury.
Medical-legal Illustration: Degenerative changes of cervical spine vs Acute traumatic injury of the spine. This medical illustration was created for a defense case. The client wanted to show what the plaintiff's cervical spine looked like with degenerative changes vs. what their spine would have looked like with an acute traumatic injury.
Lumbar Spine (chronic changes vs acute traumatic injury)