Throw out your plastic models and bulky textbooks. A fully interactive model of the entire human body is now available on your mobile device. Visible Body’s Human Anatomy Atlas is an application for Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, and Android that houses thousands of 3D images of individual anatomical structures that can be completely controlled by the user, says Andrew Bowditch, CEO of Visible Body. Other anatomy applications provide 3D images of the body but are limited to showing preset animations, Bowditch explains. Those animations allow the user to look structures from all sides but only the angles that the developer has programed into the animation. 
Visible Body offers a much more interactive experience. Users can view any structure from any angle. For example, “If you want to get a view of the shoulder girdle looking up from inside the thoracic cage, you can do that,” Bowditch says. “If you want to look at the relative placement of any number of structures from any number of different body systems, you can do that as well.” Using Human Anatomy Atlas in practice In the past, physicians have used plastic models and textbooks as visual aids when explaining concepts to patients. The Human Anatomy Atlas allows a doctor to use his or her iPad to show an exact area of the body and manipulate that image to describe and demonstrate to the patient what is going on. In addition to being a great education tool for patients, physicians can learn a thing or two from The Human Anatomy Atlas as well. “Doctors have also told us that the Atlas is a very handy reference tool for their own knowledge, especially when dealing with anatomy outside of their area of expertise,” Bowditch says. Looking forward to the next generation Visible Body is launching its second generation Human Anatomy Atlas for the iPad next week, and Bowditch says it is chock-full of new features. In addition to viewing and manipulating various anatomical structures, users will be able to draw and notate on the images and save a screenshot to a file or email it to patients and colleagues. “They can set up the model with any combination of anatomical structures showing, transparent, or hidden, rotate and tilt it to any angle, and then save it,” Bowditch explains. “Later, when they are explaining a condition or a treatment to a patient or colleague, they can pull up that model, which they can again manipulate to show the anatomy in limitless ways.” Visible Body has further plans to improve on its muscular application to include interactive movement models and create a course companion for anatomy and physiology students.
Visible Body offers a much more interactive experience. Users can view any structure from any angle. For example, “If you want to get a view of the shoulder girdle looking up from inside the thoracic cage, you can do that,” Bowditch says. “If you want to look at the relative placement of any number of structures from any number of different body systems, you can do that as well.” Using Human Anatomy Atlas in practice In the past, physicians have used plastic models and textbooks as visual aids when explaining concepts to patients. The Human Anatomy Atlas allows a doctor to use his or her iPad to show an exact area of the body and manipulate that image to describe and demonstrate to the patient what is going on. In addition to being a great education tool for patients, physicians can learn a thing or two from The Human Anatomy Atlas as well. “Doctors have also told us that the Atlas is a very handy reference tool for their own knowledge, especially when dealing with anatomy outside of their area of expertise,” Bowditch says. Looking forward to the next generation Visible Body is launching its second generation Human Anatomy Atlas for the iPad next week, and Bowditch says it is chock-full of new features. In addition to viewing and manipulating various anatomical structures, users will be able to draw and notate on the images and save a screenshot to a file or email it to patients and colleagues. “They can set up the model with any combination of anatomical structures showing, transparent, or hidden, rotate and tilt it to any angle, and then save it,” Bowditch explains. “Later, when they are explaining a condition or a treatment to a patient or colleague, they can pull up that model, which they can again manipulate to show the anatomy in limitless ways.” Visible Body has further plans to improve on its muscular application to include interactive movement models and create a course companion for anatomy and physiology students.
