Some Recent Advances in Computer Graphics

An interactive microcomputer-based graphics system for analysis of cardiodynamic function

An on-line interactive, modular, menu-driven microcomputer-based data acquisition and analysis system was designed and implemented. This system includes a low-cost commercial desk-top graphics computer with a modular construction. All these operations are performed using extended BASIC "CALL" statements. The system is designed to be used in a cardiovascular research and laboratory environment where the assessment of hemodynamic and cardiodynamic function includes routine measurements of pressure and flow. In addition, the measurement of regional and global left ventricular chamber dimensions have been implemented. The modular design of the software system is "human-engineered" to enable a simple, cost effective computer system to perform physiological measurement and control. Extended BASIC language instructions provide the casual computer user with a simple yet effective means of implementing on-line data acquisition, analysis and graphic production and display.

Solvent-accessible surfaces of proteins and nucleic acids

A method is presented for analytically calculating a smooth, three-dimensional contour about a molecule. The molecular surface envelope may be drawn on either color raster computer displays or real-time vector computer graphics systems. Molecular areas and volumes may be computed analytically from this surface representation. Unlike most previous computer graphics representations of molecules, which imitate wire models or space-filling plastic spheres, this surface shows only the atoms that are accessible to solvent. This analytical method extends the earlier dot surface numerical algorithm, which has been applied in enzymology, rational drug design, immunology, and understanding DNA base sequence recognition.