In one quick motion, Giovanni Cruz took the audience’s breath away, leaving the room filled with astonishment.
The South Pasadena High School senior was demonstrating the various functions of the Anatomage table to the board members of the South Pasadena Educational Foundation at its Monday evening meeting at the school library’s new anatomy lab.
The table displays a 3D digital human cadaver, and with just a swipe of a finger, Cruz removed layers and layers off the male subject, first peeling off the skin, then the muscular system and the skeletal structure until the only thing left was the brain and the nervous system.
That process took less than 10 seconds, but it took nearly a minute for the roughly 30 SPEF Board members to catch their breath and collect themselves to urge Cruz to “do that again.”
“That helps you learn anatomy quickly,” Cruz said during the presentation. “Every Tuesday and Thursday, we’re just messing with the table, learning new structures. I’ve learned much more about each structure. I think it’ll be very beneficial for students to learn anatomy.”
Cruz caved into the audience’s whim and reset the display to the male figure, skin intact.
From the skeletal system, to the muscular and the nervous systems, users have the option to focus on it all at once, individually or as a group.
A panel on the left side of the digital board displays various functions that will allow a student to peer into the cadaver or bring up more information on a specific body part, which can be magnified and selected. It helps users pinpoint certain body parts as well.
During his demonstration, Cruz removed everything except for the left femur and the left and right foot. When he selected the femur, the digital board displayed every bit of information relating to the bone structure, from its functions and all the way down to the blood connections involved in its structure.
The Anatomage table is part of the school’s new anatomy lab located in the campus library. The lab was made possible by a major grant from the foundation.
The table, like a more intricate and life-size version of the board game “Operation,” is convertible and can be used horizontally as an interactive function for students or vertically for instructors.
It was purchased for $90,000, and contains four different human cadavers — two male and two female — that were donated to science by the deceased individuals. There are also animal cadavers that students can choose from.
Sports medicine teacher Andre Zumaeta brought the idea to the district to acquire the Anatomage table for the lab. Along with the sports medicine class, the lab will be primarily used for the school’s biomedicine, biology and AP biology courses. About four to six students can gather around the table for instruction, and others can work independently on the lab’s laptops.
“I definitely see this being implemented more into the program as we progress and get more knowledgeable with the table,” Zumaeata said. “My program, especially, is heavy on the muscular and skeletal system, so that’s what it is going to be mostly used for, but we also talk about the cardiovascular system and the integumentary system, as well, so it can be used in every unit that I teach.”
Zumaeata plans to start incorporating the table into lessons next semester beginning in January. The first lesson will revisit the cardiovascular system, he said, but this time in a more interactive way.
Cruz was joined by fellow seniors Geeyou Lee and Sharon Cho to help with the presentation, each diving into different features of the table showcasing its diversity and intricacies.
Ahead of their demonstration, the trio would tinker with the table twice a week, familiarizing themselves with the new technology.
Cruz plans to be an athletic trainer or physical therapist; Lee will study to be an optometrist and Cho nursing, specifically OBGYN labor and delivery. Though their career paths are different, they all share the same enthusiasm for the school’s new gadget.
“I found this to be a super interesting learning tool and, overall, I can see this being super helpful for the general student body,” said Lee, who demonstrated how a student can digitally dissect a human eye and even administer a makeshift eye exam — glasses and all.
“Anatomy is a very complex subject. It can be difficult to start learning about it, but I think this will be a great way to learn about it in an interactive way rather than textbook-flipping.”
Cho concluded the presentation, pulling up a female cadaver with a computer-generated fetus. The senior showcased the anatomy, MRI and EKG imaging of both the woman and the digital fetus. Cho said the weeks of experimenting and exploring the table has helped her learn about human anatomy in a short time.
“Being able to be part of this group is a really big privilege that I have, not only to be able to show it to you, but also to our fellow students who are going to be training and using this to further their knowledge,” Cho said.
Teachers at South Pasadena High received initial table training on Sept. 13 and are currently exploring the various functions to formulate lesson plans, according to Christiane Gervais, the district’s Associate Superintendent of Instructional Services.
Gervais added that there is an online community of teachers that offers lessons for everyone to use, so there are countless case studies provided by various schools and universities that teachers can access for their lesson plans. Instructors can also download certain images from the table into a USB drive.
Administrators do not have a set date when teachers and students can have full access to the lab, but when it is available, they will be able to book time for the room.
First published in the October 20 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
