Developing Standardized Graphic Libraries for Anatomy: A Focus on Human Craniofacial Anatomy and Phenotypes

Communicating about anatomical concepts and patient-specific anatomy is fundamental to medicine. Anatomy of the head and face (craniofacial anatomy) is complex, and facial morphology varies within and among populations. Orofacial clefts—which are among the most common congenital anomalies— display a range of severities and may be preset at more than one site. There is a need to communicate rapidly and accurately about craniofacial anatomy in clinical practice, medical education, and when using clinical data in research. To address this challenge, we propose to create simple, standardized graphics of craniofacial anatomy and phenotypes. Our collections of graphics, or “graphic libraries”, will serve as complements to textual representations and will be designed for use within clinical, research, and educational software applications. Our approach to designing the graphics is based on four requirements: that the graphics be composable, extensible, identifiable, and created using scalable vector graphics (SVGs). We will first develop graphics for adult and developmental anatomy, then for phenotype variations and malformations. We will also develop several web-based tools to support communication about craniofacial anatomy and phenotypes. By offering a new paradigm for communicating about anatomy, our graphic libraries will become crucial components of the next generation of software applications for clinical practice, research, and education.