Anatomical models

Even after Vesalius, 'The challenges of communicating the multilayered three-dimensional structure of the body through a flat printed surface were, and remain, considerable. Vesalius’s successors moved beyond the printed page and created models and tools that brought anatomy to life.'  In the video embedded below, Anna Jones, Whipple Librarian in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science in Cambridge, discusses a range of alternative solutions, which are further illustrated by a beautiful gallery of images.

Digital technology provides fresh solutions to this problem. Anatomical models and specimens provide an ideal use case for the capture and publication of high-resolution three-dimensional images via photogrammetry. The example above also demonstrations Cabinet's capacity to annotate three-dimensional models.  Since the annotation is positioned with respect to the three-dimensional model rather than a mere two-dimensional image, it retains its position even while the model is being turned around and viewed from different angles.  When 'virtual handling' moves the point annotated to the far side of the object, the annotation icon dims to indicate that it could not actually be seen from the perspective selected.
 
Proposal for enhancement. This technology will be further refined with medical instruments, anatomical models, natural specimens, and ethnographical artefacts from Oxford museums. Thereafter, the Medicine Cabinet team will be keen to investigate options for applying it to relevant materials in the Wellcome Collection and the Science Museum, London.