With the HoloAnatomy® Software Suite, instructors can teach human anatomy without a cadaver

This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: New blog articles in Microsoft Tech Community.

The unprecedented global Coronavirus pandemic, became an opportunity for the ultimate test at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU SOM).  As the world became increasingly remote, a newly launched software used by medical students allowed them to miss zero days of anatomy instruction.

During the pandemic, our study on remote HoloAnatomy® Software was the first to show positive learning experiences for an entire class of medical students using mixed reality remotely...but synchronously. HoloAnatomy® application was the ONLY software of its kind able to accomplish this on a large scale. Students reported an overwhelming belief that this technology was an effective way to learn medical anatomy. Eighty-one percent felt that the remote anatomy sessions were equivalent to or better than the in-person class, and, when given a choice, fifty-eight percent preferred the remote HoloAnatomy® experience to in-person classes.

With the HoloAnatomy® Software Suite, instructors can teach human anatomy without a cadaver utilizing innovative 3D mixed-reality software. Within this software, lies the ability to view anatomical structures using the Microsoft HoloLens. The ground-breaking technology gives students 3D perspectives of every part of the body and offers views impossible through any other means, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of learning anatomy. Even the "difficult to see" anatomy such as the diaphragm, nervous system, and circulatory systems come alive with the use of HoloAnatomy® Software.  This unique application engages learners to move, collaborate and interact with one another in the largest shared group experience of its kind. The software gives students 3D perspectives of every part of the body and offers views impossible through any other means, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of learning anatomy.  Students can freely pan in and out of the holograms and interact with the anatomy more naturally. HoloAnatomy® Software Suite was developed in collaboration with experienced anatomy faculty and is now used at some of the most renowned medical schools, universities, and hospitals around the world. 

The HoloAnatomy® Software Suite emerged from a desire to bring the most advanced learning technology to Case Western Reserve University. Interest in exploring the most advanced learning technology combined with an early introduction to Microsoft HoloLens led to a dramatic change in the CWRU SOM anatomy curriculum, from a cadaver-based curriculum to a new digital, “Living Anatomy” curriculum. 

HoloAnatomy® Software Suite passed the test with flying colors...and it is only the beginning of where this technology will take us.