The Virtual Cadaver Lab: An Innovative Platform to Supplement Medical Education

描述（由申请人提供）：尸体解剖是医学教育中的一项重要练习。除了参与尸体解剖的60，000多名医学生外，还有数十万其他医疗保健专业人员和数百万高中生将从尸体解剖提供的探索性学习经验中受益。然而，每年只有17，500具尸体可供使用，道德和安全问题阻止了这种广泛使用，否则将是解剖学中宝贵的教育经验。在过去的十年中，个人电脑在游戏行业的推动下取得了令人瞩目的性能里程碑。有机会开发一个虚拟现实解剖探索模拟器，以合理的成本结合最好的虚拟手术和多媒体，并将这种宝贵的经验带给大众。该提案描述了虚拟尸体实验室，一个3D，真实的时间，交互式探索应用程序，允许学生探索人体解剖学的方式相同，医学生探索物理尸体。VR提供了明显优于物理尸体的优势，例如消除错误的能力，探索多个标本的能力，记录和回放解剖以进行评估的能力，以及利用组织和器官特定信息增强体验的能力。在虚拟尸体实验室模拟中，学生将能够从任何角度观察人体，用虚拟探针触摸它，并切开皮肤进行探索。组织和器官甚至可以被激活以在其解剖活动期间移动。提出了一种用于诸如Microsoft Surface的多点触摸表面的低成本基于触摸的输入设备和接口。这项研究不仅对医学生，而且对K-12和本科生的生物学学生都有巨大的影响。医学生可以在多个尸体上练习，作为他们实验室经验的补充，而不需要在尸体实验室，也没有监管或道德问题。其他理科学生可以通过在学校的计算机实验室或家用电脑上运行该软件来获得对人体解剖学的宝贵见解。在第一阶段，我们展示了这种软件的可行性，受到学生和解剖学教授的好评。在第二阶段，我们将把这个原型转换成一个高质量、功能齐全的商业软件包。该软件将在美国5所领先的医学院进行评估和beta测试。 公共卫生相关性：除了参与尸体解剖的6万多名医学生外，还有数十万其他医疗保健专业人员和数百万高中生将从尸体解剖中受益。然而，每年只有17，500具尸体可供使用，道德和安全问题阻止了这种广泛使用，否则将是解剖学中宝贵的教育经验。购买实物标本和购买补充材料的需求不断增长，构成了一个重大的公共卫生问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cadaver dissection is a critical exercise in medical education. In addition to the 60,000 plus medical students who participate in cadaver dissection, there are hundreds of thousands of other health care professionals and millions of high school students who would benefit from the exploratory learning experience that cadaver dissection provides. However, only 17,500 cadavers are available annually, and ethical and safety issues prevent such widespread use of what would otherwise be an invaluable educational experience in Anatomy. Over the past decade, personal computers have achieved remarkable performance milestones, driven by the gaming industry. An opportunity exists to develop a Virtual Reality anatomical exploration simulator that combines the best of virtual surgery and multimedia at an affordable cost and brings this invaluable experience to the masses. This proposal describes the Virtual Cadaver Lab, a 3D, real time, interactive exploratory application that allows students to explore the human anatomy the same way that medical students explore physical cadavers. VR offers distinct advantages over physical cadavers, such as the ability to erase mistakes, the ability to explore multiple specimens, the ability to record and playback dissections for assessment, and the ability to augment the experience with tissue and organ specific information. In the Virtual Cadaver Lab simulation, a student will be able to view a human body from any angle, touch it with a virtual probe, and cut open the skin for exploration. Tissues and organs can even be activated to move during their dissection activities. A low cost touch based input device and interface for multi-touch surfaces, such as Microsoft Surface, is proposed. The proposed research has tremendous implications, not only for medical students, but for biology students at the K-12 and undergraduate levels. Medical students can practice on multiple cadavers as a supplement to their lab experience without the need to be present in a cadaver lab, and without regulatory or ethical issues. Other science students can gain valuable insight into the human anatomy by running the software in a schools computer lab or on their home computer. In Phase 1, we showed the feasibility of such a software which was well received by students as well as anatomy professors. In Phase 2, we will convert this prototype into a high-quality, fully functional commercial software package. The software will be evaluated and beta tested in 5 of the nation's leading medical schools. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: In addition to the 60,000 plus medical students who participate in cadaver dissection, there are hundreds of thousands of other health care professionals and millions of high school students who would benefit from cadaver dissection. However, only 17,500 cadavers are available annually, and ethical and safety issues prevent such widespread use of what would otherwise be an invaluable educational experience in anatomy. The growing demand to purchase physical specimens and to purchase supplemental materials constitutes a major public health issue.