New York University's School of Medicine is pioneering the use of 3-D simulation technology to teach medical students about human anatomy, the New York Times reports.
How It Works
In a laboratory at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, anatomy students wear 3-D glasses to dissect virtual human bodies that are displayed on a projector screen.
Using a computer, students can examine close-up views of simulated 3-D organs and other anatomic structures that are animated to function as they would in a living body.
John Qualter -- an assistant professor of educational informatics at NYU's School of Medicine and the founder of BioDigital Systems, which created the virtual human models -- said the program is "like a living digital textbook."
Further Development
Qualter said BioDigital plans to further develop the technology on its medical education website to provide a searchable, customizable map of the human body that could be used by physicians and medical websites.
Qualter said, "We wanted to use our data visualization to improve knowledge of complex health topics," adding, "We want to become a scalable model, a Google Earth for the human body."
NYU To Use Virtual Models as Complementary Teaching Method
NYU administrators said they plan to use the virtual human bodies as a complementary teaching method that will not replace the use of real human cadavers, which provide a more tactile understanding of anatomy (Singer, New York Times, 1/7).