Students of the Western University of Health Sciences
will soon be able to perform virtual dissections and organ exploration. The
institution, with campuses in California and Oregon, has created a virtual-reality
learning center using funds from an anonymous donation of $100,000.
The center, located on the first floor of the Pumerantz
Library on the Western campus in Pomona, CA, will feature a virtual dissection
table as an alternative to the traditional cadaver lab. The table is able to
display life-sized human forms re-created from patient scans and cadavers.
“This allows you to look inside the body. You see
volume. You see tissues. You see in 360-degree access,” Robert Hasel, associate
dean of simulation, said in an article for Campus Technology. “You can zoom in and out. You can slice it and isolate
tissue types and organs, and view the radiographic images. It’s multifunctional
in use. You can embed curriculum in it, everything from information to
testing.”
Along with the virtual dissection table, the center
will have 4-D displays and utilize Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses. A
program created with the Stanford University School of Medicine Division of
Clinical Anatomy will allow students to take a tour of the human body.
“This
is a great, fun project,” Hasel said. “It is going to benefit students and
faculty in many ways. We’re bringing three-dimensional teaching into a three-dimensional
science, with the combined ability to interact with it.”
