Researchers in France May Have Helped Solve the Cadaver Shortage

Orange County, CA - July 18th, 2018 -  A cadaver is a deceased human body that is used by physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, find disease sites, or determine causes of death. In a way, it is a medical student’s first patient. Students’ study and dissect them in the first year of medical school, which provide them with a real patient experience.

The medical schools are given a cadaver in one of two ways: Either the person has filled out a short form willing his or her body to donation, or the deceased becomes a “donor by circumstance.” In those cases, either the family could not be reached or they’re unable to take custody of the body for financial or logistical reasons.

For years, cadavers have been in high demand and it has only gotten worse. The number of medical students and programs that use them each year has increased. Also, not all cadavers are suitable; anatomy boards look over the body and see if there is any evidence of hepatitis, HIV, or other hazardous infections. If a body has been ravaged by cancer; its anatomy will have been so altered it won't be a good teaching tool for medical students. If the body doesn’t present any dangers they then decide how the body could be used.

Researchers at Montpellier Medical University in France are hoping to end the shortage and teach students the basics of dissection, with virtual cadavers. The research team created two virtual dissections, one for the neck area, and one for the pelvis.

Researchers in France May Have Helped Solve the Cadaver Shortage

Each dissection was originally done on a real cadaver. A technician scanned each layer of flesh and body parts using an Artec 3D scanner“We go layer by layer, and afterward, we put it together so the computer can help us view the entire thing,” says Guillaume Captier a surgeon and professor at Montpellier Medical University.

Each dissection took a total of a day to finish. “The flesh and some tissues can be quite hard to scan because of their translucency. In the future, we’re thinking of adding some material to avoid that,” says Benjamin Moreno, who works for IMA Solutions, which is the company that operates the 3D scanner. The researchers plan to create dissection scans for the hands and the thigh area. They hope to have five scans ready for students to start using by the end of this year.

Ultimately, we are only just beginning to fully understand it’s potential. Virtual reality will have a place in medical education once researchers evaluate where it is most useful, and where its limitations lie. Virtual cadavers may not ever replace the experience of dissecting and handling a real one, but it will allow students to study without all the rules that accompany the use of a real cadaver.

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Researchers in France May Have Helped Solve the Cadaver Shortage Orange County, CA – July 18th, 2018 –  A cadaver is a deceased human body that is used by physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, find disease sites, or determine causes of death. In a way, it is a medical student’s first patient. Students’ study and […]