Home > Projects > VIHA

VIHA

Collaborators

This project was done in collaboration with the Centre of Healthcare Simulation.

Overview

Visualizing human anatomy using VR technology.

Key Problem(s)

Cadavers are an expensive and limited resource. Students have difficulty grasping spatial relationships in anatomy.

Objective

This project aims to help medical students gain a deeper understanding of the intricate relationships between various body structures. Students should be able to manipulate and mobilize joints and muscles, peel back skin and tissue layers and peer into deeper structures without the presence of an actual cadaver. Actions should be reversible and repeatable for better grasp of relationships among various body structures including organs, blood vessels, nerves and bones - an achievement not possible with a real cadaver.

Solution

The Virtual Interactive Human Anatomy (VIHA) is an advanced visualization tool allowing medical students to comprehend complex features and concepts in the study of Human Anatomy in an immersive and interactive Virtual Reality (VR) environment.

Immersive Visualization Technology with Full-body Movement Room Setup

  • Medical students are equipped with VR headsets and 360-degree controllers as they explore a 3D anatomical world that uses directional audio and HD haptic feedback to create an immersive learning experience
  • Dedicated room-scale play areas are set up for learners to move around unhindered as they view up-close realistic human models and parts like organs, blood vessels, nerves, spaces, cavities etc.

Interactive Content & Self-directed Learning Techniques

  • Lesson content is specially designed with playback interaction to complement the VR experience ensuring every medical student is able to learn at their own pace
  • Interactive and engaging activities are added to help reinforce medical students’ understanding of anatomical and physiological concepts. Such activities include drag & drop models to reconstruct different body parts using intuitive controls that mimic gestures of the hand picking an object in the VR space

We believe that VIHA overcomes existing challenges in learning Human Anatomy by cementing 3-D spatial orientation and visualization of anatomical structures. VIHA has been designed to encompass high quality precise 3D models that reinforce intricate anatomical interactions, relationships and clinical pathological conditions.

Deployment and Usage

VIHA has been incorporated into the existing Human Anatomy curriculum at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS) since 2018. VIHA has also been showcased at the following locations:

  • Augmented Human Conference 2015
  • Innovfest Unbound 2017
  • Global Chinese Design Conference 2017
  • ACM CHI 2017
  • APMEC 2018
  • Healthcare Innovation 2018
  • Innovfest Unbound 2018

Impact

Data collected from pre and post tests demonstrate that most medical students showed significant improvement in their understanding of anatomical structures and relationships after taking the VIHA modules compared to their seniors who did not take the VIHA modules. There was also an overall increase in the engagement factor as the majority of the medical students agreed that the ability to visualize Anatomy in the 3D space played a crucial role in their learning process.

Parts of the VIHA platform data have been applied to design other learning-aids for clinical practices such as dental simulation, eye surgery simulation, etc.

Project Contact

Teo Chor Guan
idmtcg at nus.edu.sg

Team Members

Dominic Chai

Daniel Low

Sean Chng Choon Ern

Lin Yibin

Marcus

Sim Yong Jie

Lee Chun Kit

Yeo Jing Ying

Mandi Lee

Yong Lin

Alfred

Teong Leong

Tung

Frieda

Hanjie

Gan Juwe

Yong Sheng

Tan Er Jue