The Visible Human Project December 14, 2006

I’m astonished by the efficacy of this project. The Wikipedia article says:

The Visible Human Project is an effort to create a detailed data set of cross-sectional photographs of the human body, in order to facilitate anatomy visualization applications. A male and a female cadaver were cut into thin slices which were then photographed and digitized.

Here are two images (Color Cryosections). The first shows a thorax, including the heart (with muscular left ventricle), lungs, spinal column, major vessels and musculature. The second presents a knee, including the patella.

Image Source

The main result of the project is that they’ve found several errors in anatomy textbooks, related to the shape of a muscle in the pelvic region and the location of urinary bladder and prostate.

Further links:

• An interactive anatomy tool, now focusing on the thorax, try it.
• Java applet that allows to view axial, sagittal and coronal slices