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BOB HIRSHON (host):
A virtual cadaver. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
At the University of Michigan, medical students dissect a 3-D hologram of a human body – using a joystick instead of a scalpel. Neuroscientist Alex da Silva has used both the full-body version and an earlier hologram of just the brain.
ALEX DA SILVA (University of Michigan):
You can dissect and choose cuts that it’s very hard for you to reproduce in a traditional anatomy lab.
HIRSHON:
As 3-D Lab manager, Eric Maslowski points out, it’s also non-destructive.
ERIC MASLOWSKI (University of Michigan):
You can reproduce the same experience over and over and over again, and hit a button and reset it, so that the next student gets the same experience.
HIRSHON:
The virtual cadaver was made possible by the Visible Human Project, which creates high-resolution 3-D images of donated bodies from thousands of razor-thin slices. I’m Bob Hirshon for AAAS, the Science Society.