Name: Can astronomers help doctors?
Uploaded: 2012-01-08T14:54:03Z
Duration: 9 min 31 s
Description: How do you measure a nebula? With a brain scan. In this talk, TED Fellow Michelle Borkin shows why collaboration between doctors and astronomers can lead to surprising discoveries.

How do you measure a nebula? With a brain scan. In this talk, TED Fellow Michelle Borkin shows why collaboration between doctors and astronomers can lead to surprising discoveries.

Can astronomers help doctors?

Blending astronomy and medical imaging reveals that tools designed for brain scans can unlock supernova secrets. When doctors and astronomers compared nebula data and heart scans, they found striking similarities and new ways to see both the universe and the human body. Using interdisciplinary methods, one team boosted doctors’ ability to detect high-risk heart regions from 39% to 91%, simply by changing color schemes. This cross-pollination of fields shows that sharing ideas across disciplines can save lives and uncover cosmic mysteries.

Where Medicine Meets Astronomy, New Discoveries Ignite

TEDx

astronomy

collaboration

medicine

science

technology

medical imaging

space

medical research

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TEDx Talk

Michelle Borkin: Can astronomers help doctors?