By Poon Chian Hui The Straits Times Sunday, Oct 07, 2012 <\/p>\n
GIVEN the shrinking supply of cadavers here, the upcoming medical school at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will provide 3-D models of the human body on iPads to allow students to learn about anatomy. <\/p>\n
The plan is to set up a central database of 3-D models of real-life patients. <\/p>\n
NTU's Institute for Media Innovation (IMI), which is teaming up with the medical school to produce software for the tablet, will be recruiting local patients for the project. <\/p>\n
For a start, it will focus on reproducing 3-D models of the lower limbs, said IMI director Nadia Thalmann, who created a virtual heart model back in the 1980s that paved the way for simulation surgery today. <\/p>\n
This will be done by getting 2-D magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from the patients to provide details of muscles and other structures. The patients will then be scanned with motion-capture technology. All these will be put together to yield a virtual representation of the muscles, tendons, joints and cartilage. <\/p>\n
\"The internal anatomy is as different as people's faces,\" Prof Thalmann said. \"With patient-specific data, medical students can learn how to treat cases differently, depending on the person's age, amount of fat and how his skeleton moves.\" <\/p>\n
Set to open next year, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine will also use the iPad as an \"essential teaching and learning tool\", said its senior vice-dean Martyn Partridge, adding that the provision of the device is still being worked out by the school. <\/p>\n
\"Putting such technology onto an iPad enables the student to visualise, learn and revise wherever they are.\" <\/p>\n
Applications for the first batch of 50 students will open at the end of the year. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
See original here:<\/p>\n
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