Imagine trying to solve a medical challenge that has never been
solved. Or tackling a complex surgical problem with no
precedent. At Mayo Clinic, challenges such as these are a
routine part of a physician's experience. Fortunately, Mayo
physicians are not alone as they work to solve today's toughest
medical questions. In addition to the entire staff of Mayo
Clinic health care professionals, Mayo physicians and surgeons
are backed by the Mayo Division of Engineering, which has a
long, rich history of scientists and physicians collaborating on
behalf of patients, creating precision devices and fabricating
detailed models. When Mayo Clinic surgeons were planning a
surgery to separate a pair of conjoined twins, the engineering
division developed a physical model of the shared liver. While
an MRI allowed the surgeons to see the liver on a screen, the
life-size physical model created by the engineers was made of a
material that allowed the surgeons to see the veins, arteries
and ducts inside the shared liver in a t