Barrow Neurological Foundation

The highly anticipated “Seven Cavernomas” textbook has finally hit the shelves, but Barrow President and CEO @mtlawton, MD, says you might want to keep it on your coffee table. “Seven Cavernomas” is the fourth textbook in Dr. Lawton’s “#SevenSeries" and currently holds the No. 1 spot for neurosurgery textbooks on the @amazon Best Sellers list. Like its predecessors, the book is solo authored and provides anatomical and surgical insights from a world-renowned #vascularneurosurgeon. However, it has a distinct difference from the original trilogy. “The other books had intraoperative photos; this one has almost all artwork,” Dr. Lawton said. “I want to shout out my amazing illustrators who created the breathtaking artwork.” The certified medical illustrators who worked on the book are part of the #BarrowNeurologicalInstitute Neuroscience Publications department, and they met with Dr. Lawton nearly every week for more than five years to bring his vision to life. #Neuroscience Publications Manager @kristenlarson Keil and Senior #MedicalIllustrator @PeterMLawrence1 developed illustration guides and color palettes, for everything from tissue color to the various taxonomy classifications, to maintain a cohesive look throughout the 452-page tome. “Dr. Lawton enjoyed being part of the creative process, offering valuable surgical insights about the specific color or textures of anatomical structures,” Peter said. Senior Medical Modeler/Animator Dani VanBrabant used these color guides to ensure consistency across the 2D and 3D animations but also worked independently with Dr. Lawton and #neurosurgery residents on illustrations featuring functional networks of the brain. Dr. Lawton’s creative approach is apparent in the original trilogy with his use of metaphors: dance choreography for aneurysm clipping, battle plans for resecting arteriovenous malformations, and architectural blueprints for cerebral bypass surgery. He continues this approach with “Seven Cavernomas,” using a central theme of cartography. This allowed the illustrators to imagine different ways to visualize “neurosurgical roadmaps.” "It was a very collaborative process,” Kristen said. “Dr. Lawton wanted a lot of detail and accuracy, which really shows up in the final images. It was an incredibly rewarding project to work on.”