BLINN HEALTH SCIENCE PROGRAM TO SHOW NEW VIRTUAL DISSECTION TABLE
Blinn College’s Division of Health Sciences debuted virtual dissection equipment that will help students understand anatomy and physiology in an exciting new way Thursday at the College’s Health Science Center campus.
Blinn faculty and students demonstrated how the recently-donated Anatomage Table will allow students to conduct virtual dissections in a simulated cadaver laboratory setting. Using 3D, high-resolution interactive scans, the Anatomage Table’s touch-interactive display system simulates an operating table and provides a life-size representation of the human anatomy. Its extensive digital library of anatomical images allows the table to be used for radiology, surgery case review, patient consultation and research purposes in addition to anatomy education.
“This equipment takes students directly into the body,” said Sami Rahman, simulations director. “It’s like a virtual world, going through every layer of the body all the way to the bones.”
Funds for the device were gifted to the Blinn College Foundation by an anonymous donor.
The virtual dissection table will be used by the physical therapist assistant, associate degree nursing, licensed vocational nursing, radiologic technology, dental hygiene and even veterinary technology students. The table could also be used by the College’s biology and anatomy/physiology courses, Rahman said.
“This table shows you exactly what you would see if you took a scalpel and were conducting the dissection yourself,” said Dr. Christy Gantt, Physical Therapist Assistant Program director. “It’s as if you opened someone’s head and took a photo of their brain. It’s much more realistic than any model on the market.”
Approximately 200 institutions around the world feature Anatomage Tables, including Stanford University, the Mayo Clinic, the University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London. Very few Texas colleges or universities offer the equipment.
“This tool allows us to give our students a more active learning experience as opposed to sitting and listening in a lecture or looking at photos in a book,” Rahman said. “It’s all about student engagement.”
The ability for students to study life-size anatomical systems from different angles and cross-sections will prove especially useful, Gantt said.
“It gives us a very advanced way to reinforce and augment what we’re already doing to teach excellence in treatment and human anatomy,” she said. “This puts us in league with a very elite group of university and Ph.D. programs in the country.”
Blinn’s Division of Health Sciences, based at the Texas A&M Health Science Center, offers associate degree nursing, dental hygiene, emergency medical services, physical therapist assistant, radiologic technology, fire science, therapeutics manufacturing, veterinary technology and vocational nursing programs to meet the demand for quality healthcare professionals throughout the state of Texas. For more information, visit: www.blinn.edu/twe/healthsciences.html.
Story Courtesy of Blinn College