New technology provides students with virtual dissection table

  • 2014-12-19
Training for health professionals in Liverpool, New South Wales, has been enhanced with the arrival of a virtual dissection table.

At a cost of $80,000, the tool enables medical staff and students to learn all about the human body’s inner workings without the need for any incision.

The hospital is one of only two medical facilities in Sydney to have the Anatomage Table, which is two metres long and was installed at its Ingham Institute Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre.

The table effectively does away with the need for preserved cadavers and a wetlab to achieve better examination results of 3D anatomy. Life-sized, high-resolution images are taken of the bodies to create a 3D digital version that can be rotated, dissected, manipulated and layered via the use of a touch screen.

Being able to turn and manipulate the images provides students with an improved appreciation of the anatomy, according to one doctor, who said the table’s innovative technology could be used in a number of courses. This could include the definitive surgical trauma care course, which deals with the care and management of patients who are severely injured.

Melanie Gibbons, Member for Menai, also applauded the institute’s use of the new technology, claiming it was an excellent resource with long-term benefits for the health professionals of today and the next generation.

Printing services will no doubt be kept busy producing materials that detail the table’s full operating system for students participating in the course.