Radiology and the Arts

Diagnostic radiologist Brett Prywitch, MD, has created a new art form by turning mammograms, X-rays, MRIs and other medical images into hauntingly beautiful works of art.

He has turned mammograms into a school of fish, and breast bones and ribs into fluttering butterflies. In a portrait of Groucho Marx, Prywitch used ankle MRIs to make the face, eyebrows and moustache, a CT heart scan for the nose and portions of digital mammograms for Groucho's cigar. In a portrait of Michael Jackson, the face is made from a CT image of a urinary bladder, the nose is from a part of the lower spine and the hair is from an MRI of shoulder musculature.

On April 24, Prywitch, who practices in St. Louis, will show samples of his work during a guest Grand Rounds lecture on "Radiology and the Arts" at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Il.

Scott Mirowitz, MD, chairman of Loyola's Department of Radiology, has three of Prywitch's artworks hanging in his office. "Dr. Prywitch's images have tremendous beauty," Mirowitz said. "Look at them closely, and you can see just how intricate they are. They display a remarkable order and structure."

On his website http://penumbraart.com, Prywitch writes:

"Having a substantial knowledge of the body's intricate form and function, a radiologist has the unique opportunity to view humanity from a different perspective. The human body, as viewed with modern imaging technology, contains many beautiful and intricate structures that allow a vast universe of artistic possibilities."

Prywitch noted that medical images now are digitized. Digitization and Photoshop enable him to manipulate medical images.