News

Understand.com’s First Animation Available to the Public on YouTube

Plastic surgeon clients of Understand.com™ will have the new Breast Reconstruction animation added to their 3D animated library at no additional cost. This animation represents the sixth new animation added to the Plastic Surgery Library in 2012. It is also the first time the company will provide an animation, in its entirety, on YouTube for the general public.

This highly detailed 12 minute animation explains the various options of breast reconstruction and was developed with the expertise of Scott Wrye, MD and Wes Hall, MD, two board certified plastic surgeons. It is already being utilized on several well-respected breast cancer websites including a site by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

“Many at Understand.com™ have family members who have been afflicted by breast cancer. We felt we had to provide this animation to the general public and increase awareness as much as possible. The various options for breast reconstruction can be confusing and I believe our animation will really help patients understand the options available to them.” said Darik Volpa, Founder and CEO of Understand.com™.

Understand.com is proud to announce the release of two newly upgraded animations to the plastic surgery library. “This is our second installment of upgrades for our plastic surgery patient education library,” said CEO, Darik Volpa. “These upgrades will be ongoing for all of our plastic surgery content at no additional charge to our clients.”

The new 3D animations are available to view here:

• Facelift – Mid
• Forehead Lift

Previous upgrades included Liposuction, Mini Tummy Tuck, Mini Facelift, Lower Facelift, and Lower Eyelid Surgery.

Upper Eyelid, Nose Reshaping and several other procedures are currently under development and will be added to the library later this year.

Hand, Wrist, Foot, & Ankle Procedures Added to Orthopedic Patient Education Library

Orthopedic and sports medicine doctors looking to explain to patients what they can expect from hand, wrist, foot and ankle operations, have a new tool at their disposal. Understand.com today announced the expansion of its orthopedic patient education library with the addition of animated procedures for hand, wrist, foot and ankle.

Research shows that 84 percent of patients use the Internet to select a surgeon. Understand.com’s orthopedic patient education library helps to answer common questions and concerns patients have about a surgery, and provide an educated idea of what they can expect from the procedure.

“It was time to expand our orthopedic library to cover all joints. Existing clients who license our orthopedic content will automatically get this update for no additional charge,” said Darik Volpa, founder and CEO of Understand.com. “Additional procedures are under development for this area to make the library even more robust.”

New procedures that Understand.com currently has in the works include carpal tunnel, wrist arthroscopy, bunionectomy, and ankle arthroscopy.

Thousands of physicians and medical associations partner with Understand.com for its medical animations and educational tools, including the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Canadian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, American Cancer Society, Hair Foundation, National Eczema Association, and the Skin Cancer Foundation, among others.

Understand.com is proud to announce the release of the first phase of the upgraded 3D plastic surgery animations. “These three plastic surgery animations are the first in a complete redesign of our existing library incorporating new models, better story-telling, and HD quality 3D animation.” said Don Massie, Content Director at Understand.

The new 3D animations are available to view here:

• Facelift – Lower
• Liposuction
• Tummy Tuck – Mini

“This has been a significant project for the team and I am pleased with the results. We are well on our way to fundamentally changing the way patients learn about healthcare topics. There is simply no better way for individuals to learn about complex healthcare topics than 3D animation.” said CEO, Darik Volpa.

As the industry leader in web-based patient education content, Understand.com has once again raised the bar with the announcement of their new photo-realistic 3D animation model upgrades. The new models are incredibly life-like, depicting greater anatomical detail, features and overall beauty. The animation upgrade will automatically take place for existing clients throughout 2010 as Understand.com upgrades current content, as well as all new content in development. Upgrades are scheduled to begin in Q1 of this year.

“We place an extremely high value on the quality of our animations,” stresses Darik Volpa, Founder and CEO of Understand.com, “by constantly re-investing in our content, we continually deliver great value to our physician and corporate clients and remain the gold standard in 3D patient education.”

Through innovative developments in 3D animation modeling, Understand.com has the ability to quickly and effectively render extremely high quality content. “Not only will our existing animation libraries be enhanced, but this commitment to a higher standard of quality allows us to better serve the medical device and pharma industries,” states Rob Griffin, Senior Vice President of Business Development. “With this new photo-realistic modeling, we can more accurately highlight the mechanism of action (MOA) of a company’s specific device or drug, which ultimately leads to better teaching and educational material for sales professionals, surgeons, and patients.”

Along with the upgraded animation, Understand.com has expanded its in-house animation team. “The new animators bring a wealth of experience, along with a diverse background and advanced degrees in medical illustration.” adds Don Massie, Director of Content Development. “We have conducted a nationwide search for the best and brightest medical animators and are thrilled with the new additions to our animation team.”