In this, and occasional future columns, we will present other educational presentations of the Visible Human Dataset. In this column, we present the VH Dissector. The VH Dissector is a program combining the original cross sectional images of the Visible Human with three-dimensional renderings of the anatomical structures identified in the cross sections. This data is wrapped in an interface that provides the user with the ability to control the combinations of structures that are visually presented in the three-dimensional view, the angle of viewing and magnification of the composition and the transverse cross sections through the same region of interest. The VH Interactive Atlas was originally designed to meet a need for labeled cross-sectional anatomy in arbitrary planes for correlation with endoscopic ultrasound images. The VH Dissector, on the other hand, is targeted at the ongoing need for continuing education and understanding of the three-dimensional structure and relationships of structures in the human body.
The VH Dissector also includes a programming language to facilitate the presentation of VH Dissector “states” (much like the Interactive Atlas “states”) in a logical construction of the anatomy important to a physiologic process, a clinical condition, or a pathologic state. These pre-recorded states can be woven into the fabric of a lesson with supplementary multi-media material such as pictures, graphics, images, videos, and even the Interactive Atlas images or states. The authoring language is html-based and accepts most components of the language. The interactive nature of the software is preserved while the user is following a lesson. Users have all the functionality of dissection, construction, viewing angle, magnification, and skin opacity available throughout a lesson and are encouraged to use these customizing capabilities.
Video Clip 1: Animation of Lesson One: Portal Hypertension. (Video Clip may take awhile to load, due to its format.)
Video Clip 1 is a pre-recorded animation from screen-capture images of Lesson One: Portal Hypertension from a series of six lessons dealing with GI Pathologies, designed specifically for the GI community. This lesson is from a series of lessons called the GI Pathology Guide. The full PDF lesson illustrated in Video Clip 1 is available free of charge from the Visible Human Experience website. Currently, the following three lessons are available in the series:
Portal Hypertension
Portal Hypertension Decompressive Procedures – Part I
Portal Hypertension Decompressive Procedures - Part II
The next lesson in the series will deal with Local Tumor Staging for Pancreatic Cancer.
To utilize the full interactivity and functionality of the lessons, the VH Dissector software is required. The VH Dissector is available from Touch of Life Technologies (ToLTech) at http://www.toltech.net. It is delivered on a DVD. The lessons produced, however, are generally small enough to be delivered over the internet.
A logical extension of the VH Dissector and the VH Interactive Atlas is a combination of the two resulting in the most comprehensive cross sectional atlas available combined with the most comprehensive three-dimensional renderings of the entire human body.
Disclosures
Disclosure of Financial Interest: The author of this article, Victor M. Spitzer, Ph.D. is President and CEO of TolTech Inc., the developer and marketer of the VH Dissector.
Disclosure of Non-Financial Conflict: The editor of this journal, John C. Deutsch M.D., is author of the Portal Hypertension lessons, and receives no remuneration for their distribution.
