Iowa City's Cyber-Anatomy Inc. Introduces 3D Anatomy Software for Schools

Quad Cities Students get 3-D views of the human body

Deirdre Cox Baker Quad City Times

The mouse in Alisha Heisterkamp’s hand hovers over the computer program that displays a multicolored, multidimensional depiction of the human body on a screen, seconds before she clicks the device to blow apart the “body” into tiny pieces.

The science students in Steve Saladino’s room at Davenport West High School gasp in surprise. “Cool!” they shout. It gets their attention, Heisterkamp agrees.

The 21-year-old West alumnus returned to her old school recently in her role with Cyber-Anatomy Inc., a cutting-edge Iowa City company that is selling award-winning, 3-D human anatomy software to colleges and school districts around the nation. She is the operations manager for the company and a junior at the University of Iowa.

“Kids learn by doing,” she said, explaining that the software program employs the same kind of interactive behavior students utilize in video games, cell phones and other applications.

The software program was developed by an engineering professor, Karim Abdel-Malek, the head of the Center for Computer-Aided Design at the university.

Abdel-Malek was approached by doctors from the Middle East who, because of religious and cultural reasons, lacked human cadavers for medical studies. The professor partnered with the publisher of the “Gray’s Anatomy” textbook to develop a 3-D view of the human body, complete with models that accurately show the skeletal, nervous and blood systems, plus other aspects.

That won a national award in an interactive media contest, and it was purchased this spring by a medical school at an Ivy League university. That led to other purchases at the college level. In addition, Cyber-Anatomy has developed what it calls “detailed anatomical models of various plants and animals.”

Also this spring, the company’s designers unveiled Cyber Science 3D, a program especially for high school students. It has been purchased in Orlando, Fla., and Boulder, Colo., and it was introduced during the past few weeks in Cedar Rapids as well as Davenport.

The difference between this program and others is its interactivity, said Rich Lineback, a native of Carbon Cliff., Ill., who is vice president of Cyber-Anatomy.

“That’s what lights people up,” he said.

Teachers: program is ‘awesome’

West science teachers Saladino and Renne Lietz call the program “awesome,” and it has them trying to figure out ways of purchasing the software for the Davenport School District. At an estimated cost of $2,000 for West High, they view it as a way to save money in the long term.

“Preserved specimens to dissect are expensive, so we try to be frugal,” Lietz said. “With software like this, using it to replace some of our animal dissections could save hundreds of dollars and give our students a whole new perspective on anatomy.”

“It’s a better teaching tool,” Saladino said. “It provides actual visual stimulation and access to areas of the human body that cannot be seen unless you actually dissect a human body.”

Students give their endorsement

Kelsey Schaeffer, a junior in the class at West, said the program clearly shows the body’s nerves, blood vessels and other systems. Similar photos in a textbook can be “very blah,” she said.

Cyber-Anatomy’s chemistry program illustrates the periodic table by colors and labels, said Shyanne Saladino, a sophomore member the class. “It’s easier to see core elements and how one, like hydrogen, relates to the others,” she added.

Sixteen-year-old Sheldon Mattson, a junior, operated the interactive program at Heisterkamp’s invitation. It was a little odd at first, he said, but he quickly caught on to rotating the 3-D body parts. It’s far superior to textbook studies, he said.

Dissecting animals has been used in science classrooms for many years, Lietz said, because it is the best way for some students to understand anatomy.

“But we are always ready to try something new,” she said.

Q-C colleges involved

Bob Tallitsch, a biology professor at Augustana College in Rock Island, is using a National Science Foundation grant to test the classroom effectiveness of the 3-D anatomical software in the Quad-Cities.

This year, anatomy students at both Augustana and St. Ambrose University in Davenport were measured as a control group. In the next two academic years, Tallitsch will rely on the Quad-City college students to answer these questions about the program’s effectiveness:

- Are the students interested?

- Does the software help them learn better?

- Does the 3-D application help them remember the relationship of body parts to each other?

If the study has positive results, Tallitsch plans to seek a $1 million-$2 million science foundation grant to study college anatomy students across the nation.