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Ohio Northern University students in nursing, biology, exercise physiology, pre-med, and other healthcare and science fields now have a new way of exploring and learning about the human body.
The new tool is called the Anatomage Table. Kami Fox, DNP, MS, RN, APRN, CPNP-PC, director of nursing and the School of Health, Life Sciences, and Education in the Getty College of Arts & Sciences, describes it as a giant iPad. It allows students to work with accurate digitized 3-D representations of life-size human bodies, based on actual human cadavers. The device can be placed on a table, or tilted upright.
Students can navigate through body layers by spreading out their fingers like they do on other touchscreen devices to enlarge certain areas, said Fox. They can also learn to identify organs and other structures as a label pops up when they scroll over certain areas of the body.
The first ONU Anatomage Table arrived this past summer, purchased through a grant from Ohio’s Super RAPIDS program. Fox and J.D. Yoder, Ph.D., dean of the T.J. Smull College of Engineering, collaborated in applying for that grant.
This fall, Brenda Reichelderfer, BSEE ’80, a donor and member of the University’s Board of Trustees, generously contributed funding for ONU to purchase a second Anatomage Table.
Built upon real frozen cadaveric slices, Anatomage Bodies are the most accurate and advanced digitized real cadavers, according to information from the company. “They provide ultra-high-definition, life-size representations of human anatomy, physiology, and pathology, with detailed anatomical variations in male and female anatomy, pregnancy, geriatric anatomy, and more.”
Unlike traditional anatomy textbooks which rely on illustrations and sometimes photographs, the Anatomage Table is interactive and provides vivid representations of the inside of the human body. “The arteries are red, the veins are blue, and the bones are white,” Fox said.
The device allows students to not only look at the inside of the body, but use their hands to roll the bodies over to see different views, she added.
Since the cadaver images are based on real people, students can observe the disease processes that impacted the individual. In studying a geriatric patient who died of lung cancer, for example, the students can explore the age-related loss of muscle tone and the progress of the disease as it metastasized into the liver and pancreas.
Having two Anatomage Tables will give access to the devices to more students, according to Fox. In addition to nursing, biology, and anatomy courses, the tools could potentially be used in classes like Art & Design, Dance, Education, Life Sciences, Strength and Conditioning, and Medical Laboratory Sciences.
The tables also come with curricula and interactive simulations that can also be used in chemistry and physics, according to Fox.
Right now, the goal is to have the technology integrated into classrooms in the spring semester, she said. “We’re bringing in students and letting them work with us.”
Fox anticipates that the ways the tables can be used will continue to evolve as the technology and imaging evolve even more.
The tables are a great teaching and learning tool, she added.
“It’s amazing that you can see the inside of the body. We are grateful to donor Brenda Reichelderfer and to the state of Ohio for providing the funding to acquire these exceptional tools.”
