davis3d Dynamic Anatomy Visualization in 3-D

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Instructions | Acknowledgements | Other resources

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Head	maxillary sinus, closed	maxillary sinus, open
	infratemporal fossa
	infratemporal fossa with pterygoid muscles
	sphenoid	internal carotid
	orbit	hypoglossal muscles
	middle ear	middle & inner ear
Trunk	heart
	pelvis w/ ligaments ♀	pelvis w/ ligaments & muscles ♀
	pelvis w/ ligaments, muscles & arteries ♀
	urogenital ♂	prostate
	inguinal canal ♂

Instructions

Select a model by clicking on one of the ‘radio’ buttons . Rotate the model by using the green controller: the current view is indicated by the pink square; click on it and drag the mouse to rotate the model. Or use the triangles above the model ▲ ▼ ◀ ▶ to rotate and the circle ● to reset to the initial position; use + and − to switch between large and small images.

To be able to zoom in and out and to see structure labels, use a free VRML viewer such as our Thrup’ny. If you have such a viewer, click on a red cube to download a model or to view it directly.

Alternatively, try the test version of our Thrwp’ny 3-D viewer.

Acknowledgements

‘endoscopy … laparoscopy … CT … MRI … three-dimensional visualization … knowledge of gross anatomy has become increasingly important, not only to interpret the images that are produced by these sophisticated techniques, but also to understand the pathway for targeting therapy to a specific site.’
(McCuskey RS, Carmichael SW & Kirch DG, ‘The importance of anatomy in health professions education and the shortage of qualified educators’, Academic Medicine 80: 349-351, 2005)

‘I think they only fill medical students with anatomy like they used to fill kids with brimstone and treacle. The experience is obviously so unpleasant, everybody agrees it must be doing them good.’
(Gordon R, Doctor in Clover, Joseph, London, 1960)

Most of the pelvis models were developed with the help of Dr. Elaine Davis for use in her anatomy lectures in Unit 3 of the Basis of Medicine component of McGill's undergraduate medical and dental curriculum. Some of the head models were developed with the help of Dr. Gary Bennett for use in his lectures in Unit 6 of BOM, and of Dr. Karen Samonds for use in her lectures in the course Head and Neck Anatomy, part of Unit 10 for dental students. The inguinal-canal and hypoglossal models were mainly developed by students under the supervision of Dr. Geoffroy Noel. Any inadequacies are the responsibility of Dr. Robert Funnell.

The pelvis and head models are based on the female and male data from the Visible Human Project of the NLM. Earlier versions of the models were developed by medical and dental students under the supervision of Dr. R. Funnell and P. Warrick, with assistance from Dr. A. Behiery, in the context of the Molson Medical Informatics Student Projects.

The heart model is based, with permission, on a model developed in 1996 by C. Siegel at New York University.

The ear model is based on magnetic-resonance microscopy data (scan S16885) obtained from O.W. Henson, Jr., and M. Henson (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill); the MRM scan was conducted by the Center for In Vivo Microscopy at Duke University. The model was created by D. Nicholson with input from R. Funnell and S. Daniel, and was the basis for an article by them and C. Chalk.

Other 3-D anatomy resources

Open Anatomy Project at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston). As of 2019 Oct 22 and 2022 Oct 6, includes 6 atlases with an Open Anatomy Browser based on ThreeJS.
BodyParts3D (also at https://lifesciencedb.jp/bp3d/) includes thousands of artist-created 3-D models of body parts, organized using the Foundational Model of Anatomy, and downloadable as OBJ files. As of 2024 Nov 25, the latest version is dated 2018 Dec 10 and contains 8129 parts or combinations of parts (e.g., Auditory ossicle = Malleus + Incus + Stapes = Left malleus + Right malleus + Left incus + Right incus + Left stapes + Right stapes). The Anatomography Web application allows one to select parts; modify colours and opacities; make embeddable still, animated or interactive versions of the resulting 3-D model (the server-based interaction is slow); and download OBJ files for the parts of the model.
Human Reference Atlas: the 3D Reference Object Library includes 3D models of about 30 anatomical structures (as of 2023 Dec 28) for each of the male and female bodies, based on the Visible Human Project images. The models are smooth and pretty, and moderately detailed. In some cases (e.g., the brain) the same model appears to be used for both sexes. The models can be downloaded as .glb (glTF-binary) files.
Anatomy Learning Resources: which are open?, by O. Paul Gobée, includes several categories, including ‘3D Adult’.
Virtual Liver from the Dept. of Anesthesia, Toronto General Hospital. Offers horizontal and vertical rotation and control of transparency of individual structures, but requires Flash Player. See also other projects.
Liver Anatomy Explorer developed at the University of Magdeburg. Uses WebGL. Described in Birr et al. (2013). See also LiverAnatomyExplorer_CollaborationTools.
Reuben’s interactive schematic 3-D models of multiple organs and regions (see menu icon in upper-right corner)
QTVR Anatomical Resource at Wright State University: a large collection of interactive QuickTime movies produced from photographs of real anatomical specimens; requires free registration
Skull module from Anthropology Department, California State University at Chico: includes interactive QuickTime movies of individual bones (360° horizontally and vertically; switch between the two modes by clicking in the upper left and right corners)
Medical Visualization from Division of Educational Informatics, NYU School of Medicine: some ‘Archived Demo Projects’ are on-line (head, pelvis, ‘Dynamic Virtual Patient’), require Unity or 3DVIA plug-in
3-D Virtual Models of the Human Temporal Bone and Related Structures (Eaton-Peabody Lab, Mass. Eye & Ear)
Zygote Body, based on retired Google Body and its open-source WebGL 3-D viewer (ref)
HeadNeckBrainSpine, neuroanatomy modules based on MRI and CT scans, using Flash to browse through labelled structures in orthogonal imaging planes (not 3-D models); site also includes 100's of clinical cases
Anatomy.TV by Primal Pictures (commercial, McGill has a subscription)
Embryology
- Virtual Human Embryo (New Orleans and Washington DC)
- 3D Atlas of Human Embryology (Amsterdam)
- Cardiac embryology (Toronto)
- Dimensional Embryology (U. Pittsburgh), iPhone app, chick & frog

2-D anatomy resources

Acland R, Herring N, Brueckner-Collins J (2012): The Pterygopalatine Fossa. MedEdPORTAL. Available from http://www.mededportal.org/publication/9176 (a 4m56s narrated video, plus trivial instructor's guide and quizzes) (note also the existence of Acland's 6-DVD Atlas of Human Anatomy)
Roche Lexikon Medizin includes, in addition to its searchable lexicon, interactively labelled images based on the Sobotta atlas of human anatomy
The out-of-copyright 1918 edition of Gray’s anatomy is available on-line at Bartleby.com; material from it is also included in many Wikipedia articles.
On-line version of Basic human anatomy: A regional study of human structure (1983) by O’Rahilly, Müller, Carpenter & Swenson
Anatomy Atlases (R.A. Bergman)
Musculoskeletal Atlas, by Carol Teitz and Dan Graney, and Muscle Atlas, by Michael Richardson, two sets of drawings (somehow related but different) of muscles of the upper and lower extremities, available without charge (after requesting permission) for ‘peer-reviewed articles, classroom use and student papers’.
Interactive Terminologica Anatomica 1998 on-line version

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–Share-Alike 2.5 Canada License.

See the Wikipedia article on Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp., and especially the cited case ‘Meshwerks vs. Toyota’, for a discussion of issues related to the question of whether one can copyright 3-D models based on either 2-D images or 3-D original objects.

R. Funnell

Last modified: 2024-11-25 18:36:11