If you missed the Bodies exhibition at your local science center, you may be in luck. Rather than see some hapless Chinese prisoners dissected and put on display, you can now view the human body in 3D using any browser. You can see almost all the systems, nerves, and organs as well as simulate the effects of various diseases including cancer and heart trouble. Ain’t the future wonderful?
The product, created by imaging company Biodigital, launched three weeks ago and we sat down with Frank Sculli and John Qualter to get a tour. You can check out the digital human here.
The product is free to use and replaces the dusty old anatomy books and charts that physicians and therapists have been using for centuries. For example, a masseuse can use the product to show which muscles he is about to attack and doctors can demonstrate techniques and pinpoint problems while patients watch. Folks who want to create custom content will pay to upgrade.
The next step, said the founders, will be to add custom body data to the images, creating images that merge MRI data and 3D rendering. For example, a cancer patient’s progress can be rendered on the body, allowing the patient and the doctor to understand the problem more clearly.
Frank and John gave us a brief demo but you can try it yourself. Who knows? You just might learn what the uvula does.