Hopkinton High anatomy students get a leg up with cutting-edge technology

HOPKINTON — Science students at Hopkinton High School have access to a new, state-of-the-art tool that allows them to learn about anatomy in a stunningly realistic way.

Dubbed by its creator as the world's first virtual dissection table, the so-called Anatomage Table is an advanced digital tool that is capable of realistically simulating the complex anatomy of the human body, as well as for more than 100 animals.

"You can tell how different it is to see anatomy visualized three dimensionally than it is to see it on a paper diagram," said Ishita Khurana, a Hopkinton High senior. "Anatomy becomes much more real, much more alive when you see it in a cadaver — even a virtual one."

The school was able to obtain the table after winning a $50,000 grant last spring from the Hopkinton Education Foundation, an independent group of residents and business owners that awards grant funding to Hopkinton schools that propose projects that can help spur innovation and improve the learning environment inside Hopkinton schools.

The Anatomage Table features a large touchscreen that allows students to closely examine different aspects of the human body, simulate surgical procedures, and better understand the various different systems that make up human anatomy.

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One unique feature of the board is that it uses the bodies of two real cadavers — individuals who have donated their bodies to science — and the board can simulate hundreds of different ailments and situations within the body. The impacts of COVID-19 on lungs can be showcased with a few swipes, as can the process of a pregnancy, a stroke, a broken wrist and even inorganic incidents such as a gunshot wound.

Majorie Billeter, who teaches anatomy and physiology at Hopkinton High, has integrated the table into her classes. Since the tool arrived in October, Billeter has continued to discover new ways to use it to help students better understand the human body.

“If you want to see what is going on with an infected lung, you can go ahead and dissect that, you can make other body parts disappear, and zoom in and see exactly what it looks like,” she said. “If we want to show the brain we can show all sorts of things, we can show a stroke, we can show an aneurysm, even a gunshot wound to the head."

Interactive learning about anatomy

Anatomage Inc., a privately held company based in Santa Clara, California, creates medical virtualization technology products for the education and health care industries. Besides the table, the company also makes a tablet and ebook version of the product, as well as similar devices that assist veterinarians and dentists.

The Anatomage Table can be seen as a superior alternative to traditional learning through textbook images and basic models, as well as avoiding the mess and smell of physical dissections. Students instead can physically follow along in a space that simulates the human body using interactive 3D images. The hands-on experience helps engage students who otherwise may struggle to learn the material when using textbooks and charts.

“I have kids that I have a hard time engaging in class, but now I will get them asking if they finish their work early, if they can break out the Anatomage Table and play around with it,” Billeter said.

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“When we find out, as science teachers, that students are going into the science field, that is why we do what we do," said Bethany Spinks, also a science teacher at Hopkinton High. "When we see any interest, where kids are getting excited about it themselves, that is what we like to see."

The table is more commonly used in medical schools; versions of it are even used in hospitals and surgery wards to assist doctors. Spinks estimated there are only a handful of high schools in the country that have access to this kind of technology.

“I don’t know of any other school in Massachusetts that have this tool," she said. "It’s mostly used at the college level."

Local fundraising brings table to Hopkinton

Last spring, Spinks submitted a grant request that was approved by the Foundation, which provided more than $50,000 to purchase the table.

Chris Fredericks, president of the Foundation, acknowledged that his group provides funding, but credited teachers like Spinks and Billeter who provide innovative ideas that create the chance for something like the Anatomage Table to come to Hopkinton Public Schools.

“We thank parents and the community, local businesses, who donate to HEF and we sponsor the grants," Fredericks said. "We get grants every year and if they fit our model, we usually fund things that are new, different, a pilot program. This is one of our more expensive grants. This was worth it, we can use this year after year after year. Things like this, we want to get the word out that this is what people have funded, this is where your money goes.”

The table helps gives Hopkinton students an advantage when it comes to learning complex subjects in anatomy. Junior Srilakshmi Venkatesan said having the table in the classroom gives students a better understanding of the human body.

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"I sometimes have a difficult time understanding how certain organs of the body function when it is all put together with the bones, muscle, and other surrounding organs," Venkatesan said. "For our last skull bones test in anatomy, I owe it all to the Anatomage Table which allowed me to practice identifying specific bones in the cranium and throughout the face."

Khurana, who plans to study pre-med at Brown University next year, said using the Anatomage Table helped solidify her decision to pursue medicine in higher education.

"The Anatomage Table has definitely solidified this decision by putting the complexity of human anatomy into perspective," she said. "Even though we use all kinds of different features of the table almost every day in class, there are so many left to explore. This complexity makes it difficult not to be curious about what else there is to explore within the field of anatomy and physiology."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: High-tech table gives Hopkinton High science students a virtual boost