Medical Legal Illustration

Medical Legal Illustration by Sara Vukson.

Made in Dr Lelia Lax’s class, is meant to clarify the x-rays of the comminuted fracture of the plaintiff’s arm and surgical repair, as well as the loss of flexion from (conceptualized) osteoarthritic degeneration.

Original Sketches were done in pencil, and Illustrator and Photoshop CC were used for rendering and placement.

In personal injury cases, medical testimony and evidence can be difficult to interpret for a judge and jury who are unfamiliar with the science involved. Medical illustrations can be used by the medical expert witness to clarify and for scaffold knowledge building, essentially educating the audience rather than over simplifying information.
Visual evidence can display the patient specific trajectory of the medical story. In this illustration, the low quality x-rays were translated to medical illustrations to clarify and improve accuracy of visual understanding. The medical report indicating loss of rotation of the arm joint is depicted in the orientation image, and the predicted osteoarthritis is visually conceptualized.  The illustration shows a clear and accurate depiction of the medial view of the broken bone, surgical repair, and long term consequences for the plaintiff, in an easily understandable and non-intimidating manner.