Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) developed the Education Department (HoloAnatomy) with the goal of reducing the use of human cadavers in anatomy classes and introducing a new, more efficient way to use holographic images.
Holo's anatomy department is not a human cadaver laboratory, there are real corpses inside, due to the discoloration of preserved body tissues, parts are difficult to distinguish, for example: sometimes it is difficult to clearly distinguish between nerves and blood vessels. The department provides students with fully articulated 3D anatomy, which in turn provides first- and second-year medical students with a solid scientific foundation on which to build further medical concepts.
What is part of the HoloAnatomy software suite?
Interactive Commons 3D artists and programmers partnered with the CWRU School of Anatomy to create the HoloAnatomy software suite, which uses advanced mixed reality technology to visualize the human body in 3D and display it via Microsoft HoloLens.
In this way, medical students learned human anatomy chapters twice as fast and retained information 44% faster, according to university findings after testing the new learning method for eight months.
It declares that the HoloAnatomy component will represent the future of medical education, allowing universities to save the time and effort needed to obtain human cadavers, as well as the material cost of those cadavers, students to learn faster and maintain more vitality. . Inform and reach beyond the classroom with unprecedented collaboration possible.
The strength of the Microsoft HoloLens headset and HoloAnatomy arm is that it delivers clear, detailed images. During use, students immerse themselves in the world of mixed reality and interact with virtual human bodies that appear in front of them as if they were real. This helps the information to be better embedded in the students' memories where they will keep it for years to come. This approach also allows them to learn in a more interactive and fun way.
Despite all the advantages that mixed reality technology offers in the field of autopsies, there are still ways to make use of human cadavers, but for specific educational purposes, such as: surgical training that requires direct interaction with real bodies.
How will mixed reality applications in medical education evolve?
To accelerate the innovation of these educational tools and expand the capabilities of Interactive Commons, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) has announced the creation of Ilumis to advance research and education.
Mark Griswold, professor at CWRU College of Medicine and director of the university's interactive faculty, noted that the goal of founding Ilumis is to extend these applications to students around the world and to advance scientific research and education. He also noted that they are proud of their success in developing these educational tools over the past eight years and that the HoloAnatomy department has the potential to forever change the way students learn the basics of anatomy.
To expand the capabilities of the interactive commons, CWRU recently developed HoloAnatomy Neuro, the first department to offer an interactive 3D experience based on mixed reality technology for teaching neuroanatomy. In addition to being able to show the visual structure of the brain and nervous system, this section also focuses on clarifying anatomical concepts related to the nervous system.