THESE graphic images could save lives.

Now a North Yorkshire company is looking for help develop its work, creating detailed three dimensional pictures from internal body scans.

The technique, honed by Medical Interactives of Riccall, between York and Selby, is set not only to revolutionise the accuracy of diagnoses, but also help surgeons better to prepare for delicate life-or-death operations.

This week its technical director, Nigel Rodwell, will be asking Yorkshire investors to give him £300,000 to develop his product, which dramatically improves the resolution of images produced from MRI and CT scans. It also allows doctors to view 3D or stereoscopic images.

He will be among the bosses of 12 ventures, which on Wednesday will each have only ten minutes to convince an audience of 45 investors at a Summer Investment Forum to part with their cash, before being grilled by a panel of experts.

The event, organised by Connect Yorkshire, which primes technology companies for growth and investment, takes place at The Hilton hotel, in Leeds.

Medical Interactives' new technology takes data from a MRI or CT scan and produces "pictures" of the body. These images can be manipulated in real time and viewed from two different perspectives.

Mr Rodwell, whose background is in computer graphics, said: "The stereoscopic images are produced using the same basic principles that are used for 3D films and television.

"However, our techniques are much more sophisticated, producing better quality and more realistic images.

"Doctors can also see data from a worms-eye or endoscopic view. Using this vision, surgeons can effectively fly' a camera around the patient's body.

"With more and more keyhole surgery being carried out, this technology allows doctors to see with the same perspective as they will have during the operation."

Two-dimensional images of internal organs and complex vascular systems can be confusing, but in 3D surgeons can see whether blood vessels are in front or behind an aneurism or tumour.

"For this reason it can be used for pre-operative rehearsals to find ways around vital blood vessels," he said.

Already, his 12-person team has perfected a large screen system, costing about £40,000, but he is hoping to persuade investors to give him the money to perfect software for a small screen version which could operate on a modern PC and would cost about £3,000.

He also needs money to finance a chief executive from the health sales sector to take the company forward.

He said: "Away from diagnosis, it has applications in training or in the educational arena. For example, the technology could be used to show youngsters exactly how smoking damages the heart and lungs."