"Visualizing Human Embryos" (1999), by Bradley Richard Smith

In March 1999 Bradley Richard Smith, a professor at the University of Michigan [4], unveiled the first digital magnetic resonance images of human embryos. In his article ?Visualizing Human Embryos? for Scientific American, Smith displayed three-dimensional images of embryos using combinations of Magnetic Resonance Microscopy [5] (MRM), light microscopy [6] , and computer editing. He created virtual embryo models that are possible to view as dissections, animations, or in their whole 3D form. Smith?s images constitute a new way of visualizing embryos. They served to help students, researchers, clinicians and the general public interested in the study and investigation of human embryonic development.