Virtual Human Dissection Tables: The Future of Medical Education

 

“Tell me and I’ll forget.

Show me and I may remember.

Involve me and I learn”

You all may have come across this famous quote from Benjamin Franklin once in your lifetime. I feel this quote, in a true sense, summarises as well as emphasizes the importance of practical education in any field.

Medical education plays a crucial role in society as it is the foundation for healthcare, having far-reaching implications on individual well-being, public health as well as on overall quality of life. Therefore, medical education, out of all the educational fields, needs more practical experience, mainly in human dissection.

In this blog, we will explore the virtual science labs Virtual Human Dissection Table and its potential to shape the future of medical education.

Introduction:

Medical education has undergone significant transformations over the years with advances in technology. It has come a long way since the days of textbooks and chalkboard lectures.

Traditional methods definitely served as the foundation of medical training for centuries, but they had their own limitations. Medical students often find it challenging to translate theoretical knowledge into practical skills, especially when it comes to understanding the intricate details of human anatomy and overall human biology.

One of the groundbreaking innovations in recent times that revolutionized the way medical students learn about human biology is the virtual human dissection table. Since then, Virtual Human Dissection Tables, commonly referred to as VHDTs have emerged as a powerful alternative offering unique benefits over the traditional cadaver studies.

We can see that the use of a virtual human dissection table began to gain popularity in the early 21st century. The specific timeline for the introduction, as well as the adoption of the virtual human dissection table, may and will vary from region to region and institution to institution. But for sure, the key developments paved their way in the early 2000s.

Traditional Cadaver Studies – Challenges:

Cadaveric dissection is an undeniably very important aspect of medical education as it provides students with the opportunity to touch, feel, and sense real human tissues, offering a profound understanding of the intricacies of the human body.

Then there might be a question: why are we introducing and encouraging the virtual human dissection table in medical education?

To understand the impact of the virtual human dissection table in medical education, we first need to understand why we need to find alternatives to cadaveric dissection!

• Limited Availability: According to one of the research conducted on the availability of cadavers– “A survey on the role and the status of cadavers in medical education: An Indian Scenario” states that ‘The ideal student-cadaver ratio has been referred to as 10:1, whereas the existing average ratio was 20:1 (it ranged from 8:1 to 50:1). Only 49% surveyed of the institutions had an ideal student-cadaver ratio.’

  The research was conducted by Dr. Ashwini Chamanahalli Appaji, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Dr. Roopa Kulkarni, Senior Professor of Anatomy, from MS Ramaiah Medical College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.

  This underlines the finite resource availability restricting the easy accessibility.

  Along with this biggest challenge, there are several other challenges that limit the access to human cadavers.

  Let’s have a brief overview of them.

• Ethical Consideration: Even if you’re lucky enough to get access to human cadavers, there is always the ethical dilemma surrounding the use of human cadavers. It raises varied questions, such as consent, respect for the deceased, as well as potential for exploitation.
• Lack of Functionality: Cadavers fail to offer the dynamics of the human body, such as the physiology of living organs. They limit the utility to specific types of research due inability to replicate dynamic processes and responses.
• Decomposition and Decay: Human cadavers are bonded by natural laws, subjecting them to decomposition and decay after a specific time frame. This limits the time of exposure and utility for researchers and educators.

Shhhhhh!

Tired of reading the challenges?

Well, this was just the former part of the answer to our question,

Why are we introducing and encouraging the virtual human dissection table in medical education?

Let’s now focus on the applications of the virtual human dissection table in medical education!

Virtual Human Dissection Tables – Applications:

The Virtual Human Dissection Tables are gaining popularity as they are cutting-edge educational tools with the potential to profoundly impact the future of medical education in India as it has in many other parts of the world.

This technology provides a digital platform for students to learn about the human body through virtual dissection, and it provides multiple advantages as well as prospects for medical education in India.

Let’s look at a few of the many advantages of the Virtual Human Dissection Table.

• Realism: The 3D virtual human dissection table precisely replicates the look of human models. It accurately mimics the physical cadaver in every sense. A product like CADAVIZ from Immersive Labz, truly provides an immersive experience to the users with a world-class blend of their hardware as well as software.
• Interactive Learning: One of the best tools to learn is the involvement and engagement of the user. The 3D virtual human dissection table, in a positive way, exploits the same principle. Students have the opportunity to explore every intricacy of the human body.

  CADAVIZ allows the user to rotate the specific organ of the body, and zoom inside the organ. It not only allows the layer-by-layer dissection of the entire human body but also of specific organs.

• Accessibility: Unlike physical cadavers, a 3D virtual human dissection table is available 24/7 and allows students to learn complex topics according to their pace. There’s no time constraint on the usage of a 3D virtual human dissection table.
• Assessment and Feedback: The 3D virtual human dissection table makes the assessment easy for the professors or instructors. They can assess the dissection skills along with the comprehension of individual students.

  The 3D virtual human dissection table – CADAVIZ also has a quiz on varied topics integrated, making it easier and simpler to assess the student on the theoretical side as well.

• Limitless Resources: The 3D virtual human dissection table offers extensive information on different topics, including anatomy, physiology, embryology, radiology, etc. The 3D virtual human dissection table – CADAVIZ has 5000+ labelled anatomical structures.

Fascinated by reading amazing applications?

Well with this, we answered the latter part of our question,

Why are we introducing and encouraging the virtual human dissection table in medical education?

Let’s now focus on how these virtual human dissection tables are the future of medical education!

Virtual Human Dissection Tables – The Future of Medical Education:

The adoption and implementation of 3D virtual human dissection in medical education represents a significant step toward medical education. With advancements in technology, we can expect to see more innovations in this field.

• Augmented Reality (AR) Integration: The successor of the 3D virtual human dissection table can be none other than Augmented Reality, commonly known as AR technology. AR will allow students to overlay anatomical structures onto physical models or patients, providing a seamless transition between virtual and real-world learning.
• Remote Learning: The 3D virtual human dissection table has already demonstrated its value in remote and online education. Going further, it won’t be surprising if it plays a crucial role in the training of the healthcare professionals of tomorrow.

• Global Collaboration: The 3D virtual human dissection table will be the best aid to help medical students and professionals from around the world to collaborate on research and educational projects. This global connectivity can lead to breakthroughs in medical knowledge and patient care.
• Personalized Learning: The 3D virtual human dissection table, with the help of AI-driven platforms, will soon be able to customize the learning experiences not only at the institutional level but also at individual levels.

Cadaviz – More than a human dissection table:

Cadaviz is India’s first virtual human dissection table!

Cadaviz has revolutionized the world of virtual human dissection tables by allowing medical professionals to virtually explore and dissect full-sized human bodies, which were once only accessible through traditional cadaveric dissection.

What makes it stand out from other virtual human dissection tables, making it completely indigenous, is –

• Cadaviz is completely designed according to CBME (competency-based medical education) curriculum.
• Cadaviz allows learning anatomy in an immersive environment.
• Cadaviz empowers the user to study the layers of the human body and study the underlying layers in an elaborative manner through its specialised feature of scalpel tool by peeling off layers.
• Cadaviz permits the user to pause, zoom, and rotate any organ to have a 360-degree view.
• Cadaviz offers step-by-step instructions to perform dissection.
• Cadaviz is loaded with quizzes and practicals to enhance learning.

These features make Cadaviz – more than a human dissection table.

But hold your breath, Cadaviz is still there to surprise you more, standing true to its name!

Generally, what does any other virtual human dissection table bring to the table for users?

Anatomical structures?
DICOM Images?
MRI scans?

Cadaviz outnumbers everyone by bringing to the table these elaborative subjects, along with Anatomy,

• Histopathology
• Prosection
• Clinical Examination
• Radiology
• DICOM Images
• Histology
• Embryology
• Clinical Cases
• Paedology
• Physiology
• Osteology

Also, different aspects of anatomy are understood through –

• Surface Anatomy
• Systemic Anatomy
• Applied Anatomy

Isn’t this mind-blowing?

And now CADAVIZ is also adding Ayurveda medical content to the table, while animal anatomy has already made its way.

And and and,

While the thoroughly researched content is making its way to the table, our table is reaching out to you despite your location!

Dumbfounded?

Let’s clear that, Cadaviz Car Van is travelling across the country (India) to provide hands-on experience to medical professionals as well as students.

After coming across these fantastic as well as mind-blowing features of Cadaviz, one can simply summarise it in one line as;

CADAVIZ – The 3D virtual human dissection table is the future of medical education!

Conclusion:

We can conclude that the Virtual Human Dissection Table has the potential to change medical education in India. As it provides an immersive, ethical, cost-effective, and accessible approach to learn human anatomy.

Successful implementation demands investment, infrastructure development, and continued support from educational institutions and policymakers.

Implementation of the Virtual Human Dissection Table such as Cadaviz will address some of the country’s long-standing problems related to medical education and contribute to the development of better-trained healthcare professionals.

Writer – Prachi Erankar

Subject Matter Expert(Biology)