The study of anatomy at Waterloo just got more high-tech. The Biology department recently added a virtual dissection table to its undergraduate anatomy teaching, giving students a new perspective on the human body.
The Anatomage table is a large touchscreen that displays life-sized digital representations of real human bodies, allowing students to participate in dissection without the need for preserved cadavers. It comes with an extensive library of scans, including 12 full human cadavers as well as hundreds of separate clinical cases with patient medical images. Students can rotate the bodies and remove layers to explore different anatomical structures and systems independently.
This new technology helps to modernize the facilities in Biology and represents a move toward more sustainable approaches in education by not having to source cadavers. It’s also a powerful learning tool.
“Students are drawn to technology, and if you can capture that enthusiasm and turn it into an educational tool, they become more engaged,” says Paul Craig, Chair of Biology.
Virtual dissection also has some advantages over traditional cadaver dissection. “Students get a more realistic understanding of anatomy in many ways,” Craig explains. “Where traditional cadavers are embalmed and the tissues altered, with this table, students can see realistic colour and texture differences. They can also remove systems layer by layer – nervous system, vascular system, muscles – to see how everything connects.”
The table is housed in a dedicated anatomy teaching room in Biology 1. Large screens project the table’s display so it can be viewed by the whole class. Twelve companion tablets function independently and can access several of the same digital anatomy scans, facilitating smaller group work.
But the table is not intended to fully replace traditional wet labs. Instead, it complements hands-on dissection using animal models. Kelsey Pannunzio is the lab instructor for Biology 201, the first anatomy course to include the table this term. She is using the technology alongside mammalian dissections to create a fully integrated experience for students in the course.
“It’s unique for an undergraduate program to combine this technology with the dissection of animal models in a wet lab,” says Pannunzio. “Students get the chance to learn about anatomy in the virtual session and then practice handling real organs in the lab.”
Michael Bording-Jorgensen, the professor for this course, is most excited about how the technology allows students to study disease progression in the body. The digital anatomy library includes disease and pathology models that give students the opportunity to examine tumours and other abnormalities alongside healthy anatomy.
“With cadavers, you’re limited to what that person might have had, if they had anything at all,” says Bording-Jorgensen. “The ability to look at both anatomy and pathophysiology, see how things change, and assess what impact that might have allows us to have valuable discussions about how anatomy changes.”
A second table has just arrived in Biology, further expanding the anatomy program. In the future, the tables could be used in physiology and histology courses as well, giving even more Biology students a chance to learn through virtual dissection.
The Anatomage table is a large touchscreen that displays life-sized digital representations of real human bodies. Its extensive library includes 12 full human cadavers.
Twelve companion tablets function independently and can access several of the same digital anatomy scans, facilitating smaller group work.
Rather than replacing traditional wet labs, the anatomy table complements hands-on dissection using animal models.