Veterinary students at the University of Guelph are now using a virtual reality (VR) simulation tool to help learn about dog and cow anatomy.
The technology – believed to be the first use of VR for teaching anatomy at a Canadian veterinary college – allows students to move around virtually inside an animal’s body. Using handheld controls, they can manipulate the VR model to examine material from any direction, magnify or reduce body parts, and zero in on organs and tissues in three dimensions. Clicking a button allows users to strip away overlying bone to focus on internal organs and systems.
“Anatomy comes to life,” says Dr. Pavneesh Madan, a professor in the Ontario Veterinary College’s Department of Biomedical Sciences. “The tool is like magic, like something I’ve never experienced before.