The Digitised Diseases web resource, created by the University of Bradford and Jisc, launched at the Royal College of Surgeons in London. The online resource contains 3D models of bones affected by over 90 chronic pathological conditions. These range from common complaints such as osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis, to rare bone cancers, skeletal trauma and conditions that are often considered to be diseases of poverty in the modern world, such as tuberculosis and polio.
The resource seeks to bring together world-renowned skeletal collections including the university's own archaeological skeletons housed in the Biological Anthropology Research Centre (BARC); historic medical specimens housed in the Hunterian Museum and the Wellcome Museum of Anatomy and Pathology at the Royal College of Surgeons in London; and human remains excavated by the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA).
The bones have been digitised using a combination of 3D laser scanning, CT and radiography, providing a unique opportunity for students and researchers all over the world to examine both the internal and external changes caused by chronic diseases. The models are accompanied by descriptions and broader clinical synopses of these conditions.
