Panaji (Goa) [India], January 26 (HBTV): Medical students at the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) are being trained using a Virtual Dissection Table, a digital technology that integrates traditional Ayurvedic anatomical concepts with modern three-dimensional visualisation techniques.
The technology allows students to study the human body layer by layer, from superficial structures to deeper organs, helping them understand anatomical relationships in greater detail before undertaking actual cadaveric dissection.
Speaking to ANI, Dr Ashutosh Kumar Yadav, Associate Professor in the Department of Rachana Sharir at AIIA, said the virtual system enables students to visualise the entire body structure simultaneously. ‘In this dissection table, all the body structures are visualised at once, from superficial to deeper layers. Organ-wise and three-dimensional individual structures are available. Before actual cadaveric dissection, students study using the virtual dissection table, where they learn even minute structures in detail,’ he said.
According to AIIA, the technology forms part of a curriculum designed to blend classical Ayurvedic anatomical knowledge with modern teaching tools, making it easier for students to grasp complex internal structures.
Dr Yadav explained that virtual dissection offers advantages over traditional methods by allowing students to see all anatomical structures together. ‘Before cadaveric dissection, they learn about body parts layer by layer through the virtual table. In actual dissection, structures are revealed sequentially, but in virtual dissection, all structures can be seen at once, which is more beneficial for students,’ he said.
The institute has also received ten bodies through voluntary donation, including cases where families chose to donate the bodies of individuals who died in accidents or due to other causes for research purposes.
Recently, AIIA received the body of a fetus less than five months old, donated after the family opted for medical termination of pregnancy due to a congenital deformity. ‘I received a four-month-old fetus where a congenital defect, such as a septal defect in the heart, was identified. After medical termination of pregnancy, the parents agreed to donate the fetus for research,’ Dr Yadav said. (ANI)