This work was the first after my intensive art training with Teacher Alice since October 2020, taking 18hrs to complete. The illustration was created as per the request of the journal editor during revision period to make it easy for readers to comprehend, being an article focusing on procedures.
The client first approached me with a hand-drawn draft to indicate the different elements that needed to be included. The aim of this illustration series was to demonstrate how radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the thyroid gland is performed when the lesion is blocked by bony structures of the chest wall way below the level of clavicles (intrathoracic goiter; ITG) by tilting the echo probe:
After "playing around" with the 3D model of the thoracic inlet area I quickly reconstructed for the project...
...I ended up with an angle that best demonstrated both scenes of "Probe A" and "Probe B", show how the probes tilted caudally (for ITG) and vertically (for cervical goiters), and made a rough draft for approval:
...first edition of the illustration after approval:
At this point I received the patient's CT and echo images; the client felt it would be better if the morphology of the thyroid gland adhered to its actual appearance in which the left lobe appeared relatively normal in size. I made some major revisions:
The client further stated the importance of including different angles of the probe and RFA needle, including two for ITG (one aligned to the clavicle) and one for cervical goiter and that the needles needed to enter via the thyroid isthmus.
Combined with my own experience of how probes and needles are usually placed relatively to each other during in-plane echo-guided navigation, this was the final result:
In addition, we also tried combining different angles into one single illustration (which was considered too cluttered)...
...or a simple animation:
I'm honored to collaborate this time with Prof. Wei-Che Lin, Dr. Pi-Ling Chiang and the renowned "Thyroid Radiofrequency Ablation Team" based in Kaohsiung Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan.
This had been a challenging project but a memorable journey. Congratulations to Prof. Lin and Dr. Chiang for the successful publication:
**All the above artworks are customized for and to be used by Dr. Pi-Ling Chiang only.
**Dr. Pi-Ling Chiang has given her consent to present the making of this illustration. Any other forms of distribution of contents on this page without prior notice will be considered an act of plagiarism and infringement of copyright.
**Artworks not yet accepted or published will NOT be showcased in this portfolio to avoid academic theft.
**Dr. Pi-Ling Chiang has given her consent to present the making of this illustration. Any other forms of distribution of contents on this page without prior notice will be considered an act of plagiarism and infringement of copyright.
**Artworks not yet accepted or published will NOT be showcased in this portfolio to avoid academic theft.
