Julius Guccione "Mesmerized" by Virtual 3D Image of Beating Heart

Dr. Julius Guccione, a biomedical engineer and co-director of the UCSF Cardiac Biomechanics Lab, lauded the development of technology rendering a virtual image of a beating heart by Dassault Systèmes, a French design and simulation software company. Dassault has developed a complete, three-dimensional view of the electrical impulses and muscle-fiber contractions that enable the human heart to function seamlessly. Guccione (pictured right), a Professor in the Division of Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery at UCSF and Principal Investigator on multiple NIH grants developing virtual tools to aid cardiac surgeons in better treating heart disease, spoke enthusiastically to Forbes Magazine, "This is something doctors have been trying to get to since before the 1900s”. He described the advent of technologies like MRI and echocardiography as a “dream come true” for measuring abnormal motion in a patient’s heart.