Laserprinter applications in a medical graphics department.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical imaging
• Scientific visualization
• Medical illustration

Background:

• Traditional computer graphics methods for biomedical applications can be costly and time-consuming.
• The emergence of personal computing and laser printing technology presents new opportunities for efficient graphics production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility and cost-effectiveness of Apple Macintosh and LaserWriter systems for biomedical graphics.
• To explore the potential of lasergraphics for line graphics and typography in the biomedical community.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Apple Macintosh computers and LaserWriter printers for graphics and typography production.
• Compared lasergraphics output with other computer graphics equipment (e.g., color slides, pen-plotter graphics).

Main Results:

• The Macintosh/LaserWriter system is well-suited for a rapidly growing segment of graphics workload.
• Current software and hardware can produce a wide range of science graphics quickly and inexpensively.
• Lasergraphics offers a cost-effective, versatile alternative for departments entering computer graphics.

Conclusions:

• Lasergraphics holds significant current and future promise for biomedical line graphics and typography.
• Integration of all computer graphics production into a Macintosh-based system is a feasible goal.
• The cost-effectiveness and low initial investment make this system attractive for scientific applications.