HEALTH TECH
SHIV GAGLANI
Anatomage:
A Full-Size 3D Virtual Dissection Table for Anatomy Education
G
iven the myriad of issues surrounding
cadaveric dissection as well as the pace
of technology change, a number of innovative new tools have been released to enable
virtual anatomy education. I recently came across
a leading platform called Anatomage at the AMEE
International Conference for Medical & Health
Education in Barcelona this August and took the
opportunity to speak with their team about the
technology and its applications.
How did Anatomage get started?
Anatomage was founded in 2004. Anatomage developed the first volume reconstruction software
for the dental market. The flagship product for the
company was InVivoDental. The InvivoDental software takes in cone-beam CT scan files and renders
them into a 3D image. The InvivoDental software is
used for orthodontic simulations and implant surgery treatment planning. In 2011 the Anatomage
Table was released as a platform to present anatomy in a life size scale. We used the same technology
to load in CT and MRI scans and render them in 3D
to create a Table that allows for visualization of the
human body. The Table was designed to resemble
the form factor of a dissection table.
Can you explain the technology underlying
your products?
The Table’s content consists of two distinctive sides.
The first is displaying male and female gross anatomy, primarily used in anatomy education. The second is being able to load in any CT or MRI scan to
view it in a fully three dimensional perspective. The
cadavers on the Table are taken from the Visible Korean project. The cadavers were flash frozen at the
time of the death and then sliced axially at 0.2 mm
sections. We then went through and segmented out
each structure of the body to create a fully interactive cadaver. We have a clinical library of over a
1,000 cases that range from rare and unique pathology to more common surgical procedures and
normal anatomy. It also contains animals scans,
embryology, and histology.
What are the current ways Anatomage is used?
The Anatomage Table is being used by hundreds of
institutions around the world. The Table is primar-
46 CardioSource WorldNews
ily used for anatomy education and it is being used by
every kind of organization
from high schools to medical schools. Each institution
has a unique way of incorporating the Table into their
curriculum. The Table allows
a student to redo any cut or
any mistake that could be
detrimental when working
directly on a cadaver. There
is an ease of use with loading
up a portion of the body and
clicking on a structure to get
it’s annotation. Teachers can
create material like lectures
or quizzes directly on the Table and save it for later use.
Teaching hospitals, simulation centers and research
facilities all use the Table. Patient scans can be loaded directly onto the Table for visualization in 3D.
The Anatomage Table has been cleared by the FDA
for radiologists, clinicians, referring physicians and
other qualified individuals to retrieve, process, render, review, and assist in diagnosis.
Please describe how cardiologists and
practicing physicians may use your products.
Clinicians are using the Table as a platform for patient consultation, department collaboration, and
assistance in diagnosis. Clinicians can use the Table
to teach their patients about surgery planning and
demonstrate the importance of the procedure they
are receiving. Some facilities are using the Table’s
complimentary software to create personalized 3D
prints of the patient’s CT scan to give the patient a
better un derstanding of the disease that they are
facing. Teams of clinicians from different departments have used the Anatomage Table as a point
of collaboration to discuss the best way to treat a
patient. Radiologists and physicians have worked
side by side to compare the 2D images from a CT
scan to the 3D image created by the Table to devise
a pathway for a surgical procedure. The Table is able
to assist the overall diagnosis process and provide
a better method for surgeons to plan their surgical
procedures.
The Anatomage Table
Where do you see Anatomage in 5 years?
15 years?
In 5 years, we see Anatomage continuing to be the
premiere software and hardware provider for clinicians, health care services, and medical education.
We strive to be on the cutting edge and we position
ourselves to be the go-to technology when it comes
to advanced education and medical applications.
Whether it is virtual dissection, medical diagnosis,
or surgical planning, we want to be the number
one solutions provider. Our technology has been
adopted in thousands of institutions worldwide and
we aim to be in hundreds of thousands more. In 15
years, we endeavor to create even newer cuttingedge technology that we hope will revolutionize not
only medical education, but also medical practice
and health care services. We want to create technology that is both practical and revolutionary. As a
medical device company, we understand that medicine is an ever growing and developing science, and
we want to be at the very forefront of creating new
innovative technology that the field and industry
find effective and will widely adopt. ■
Shiv Gaglani is an MD/MBA candidate at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine and Harvard Business School.
He writes about trends in medicine and technology and
has had his work published in Medgadget, The Atlantic,
and Emergency Physicians Monthly.
September 2016