This animation may only be used in support of a single legal proceeding and for no other purpose. Read our License Agreement for details. To license this image for other purposes, click here.
MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: Your heart is an extraordinary machine. During your lifetime, your hearts muscular walls pump blood into blood vessels branching throughout your body. Your heart has four chambers. Two upper chambers, called the left and right atria, and two lower chambers, called the left and right ventricles, contract in a steady rhythm known as your heartbeat. During a normal heartbeat, blood from your tissues and lungs flows into your atria, then into your ventricles. Walls inside your heart, called the interatrial and interventricular septa, help keep the blood on left and right sides from mixing. Two valves sit like doors between your atria and ventricles to prevent blood from flowing backward into your atria. The tricuspid valve opens into your right ventricle, and the bicuspid valve, also known as the mitral valve, opens into your left ventricle. Strong, thin tissues called chordae tendinae hold your valves in place during the forceful contractions of your ventricles. Blood leaving the ventricles passes through another set of valves: the pulmonary valve, between your right ventricle and pulmonary trunk, and the aortic valve, connecting your left ventricle and aorta. In order to pump blood more efficiently, your heart muscle, called myocardium, is arranged in a unique pattern. Three layers of myocardium wrap around the lower part of your heart. They twist and tighten in different directions to push blood through your heart. When special cells, called pacemaker cells, generate electrical signals inside your heart, the heart muscle cells, called myocytes, contract as a group. Your heart is divided into left and right halves, which work together like a dual pump. On the right side of your heart, deoxygenated blood from your bodys tissues flows through large veins, called the superior and inferior vena cava, into your right atrium. Next, the blood moves into your right ventricle, which contracts and sends blood out of your heart to your lungs to gather oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. On the left side of your heart, oxygen-rich blood from your lungs flows through your pulmonary veins into your left atrium. The blood then moves into your left ventricle, which contracts and sends blood out of your heart through the aorta to feed your cells and tissues. The first branches off your aorta are the coronary arteries, which supply your heart muscle with oxygen and nutrients. At the top of your aorta, arteries branch off to carry blood to your head and arms. Arteries branching from the middle and lower parts of your aorta supply blood to the rest of your body. Your heart beats an average of sixty to one hundred beats per minute. In that one minute, your heart pumps about five quarts of blood through your arteries, delivering a steady stream of oxygen and nutrients all over your body.
"I thought you might want to know that after we sent a copy of your
illustration to the defendants, with a copy to
the insurance company, they increased their offer by an additional million
dollars and the case was settled for $1,900,000.00.
I appreciate your help!"
O. Fayrell Furr, Jr.
Furr, Henshaw & Ohanesian
Myrtle Beach, SC
www.scmedicalmalpractice.com
"You and your company are wonderful. Your service, turnaround time, quality
and price were better than I could have asked for. Please add me to your
long list of satisfied customers."
Robert F. Linton, Jr.
Linton & Hirshman
Cleveland, OH
"Whether it's demonstrating a rotator cuff tear, neck movement a few
milliseconds after rear impact, or a proposed lumbar fusion, the Doe Report
represents an instant on-line database of medical illustration for
health-care and legal professionals.
Illustrations can be purchased 'as is' or modified within hours and sent
either electronically or mounted on posterboard. An illustration is worth a
thousand words, as juries perk up and look intently to capture concepts
that are otherwise too abstract. Start with good illustrations, a clear and
direct voice, a view of the jury as 12 medical students on day one of
training, and your expert testimony becomes a pleasure, even on cross
examination. An experienced trial lawyer should also emphasize these
illustrations at the end of trial, as a means of visually reinforcing key
concepts covered.
As a treating physician, I also use these accurate illustrations to educate
my own patients about their medical conditions. The Doe Report is an
invaluable resource, and its authors at MLA have always been a pleasure to
work with."
Richard E. Seroussi M.D., M.Sc.
Diplomate, American Boards of Electrodiagnostic Medicine and PM&R
Seattle Spine & Rehabilitation Medicine
www.seattlespine.info
"Our practice involves medical negligence cases exclusively. We have six
attorneys and one physician on staff. We have used Medical Legal Art's
staff for every one of our cases over the past 12 years and have found their
services to be extraordinary. The transformation of medical records into
powerful graphic images has without fail been handled expertly,
expeditiously and effectively translating into superb results for our
clients, both in the courtroom and in settlement. Every case can benefit
from their excellent work and we unqualifiedly recommend their services.
They are the best!"
Chris Otorowski
Morrow and Otorowski
Bainbridge Island, Washington
www.medilaw.com
Medical Legal Art creates medical demonstrative evidence (medical
illustrations, drawings, pictures, graphics, charts, medical animations,
anatomical models, and interactive presentations) for use during legal
proceedings, including research, demand letters, client conferences,
depositions, arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, mock jury
trials and for use in the courtroom. We do not provide legal or medical
advice. If you have legal questions, you should find a lawyer with whom you
can discuss your case issues. If you have medical questions, you should seek the advice of a healthcare provider.