The Visible Human Project  is a detailed collection of cross-sectional photographs of the human body

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Hello! Anatomist here! Not just any anatomist, but I went through the Anatomy program developed in part by Vic Spitzer, who pioneered the Visible Human Project. We used the older version of our software in our classes quite a bit.

The old version, yes, had the body of a man who was executed. That one was done decades ago. And yes, quite unethical. In modern day anatomy programs, there is much discussion about how bodies can be ethically sourced. By and large, we support artificial classroom materials such as skeletons, since these days most things can be digitally reconstructed accurately. A big chunk of our education was in Imaging and Modelling so that we could do just that.

Within the last few years the VHP has been working directly with donors in order to be more ethical. It was a bit of a strange thing in our program: we had the chance to meet the latest donor while she was still alive. Then when she passed, cohorts got to work with the body of a woman they’d met. (read: free grad student labor.)

The technology has advanced so the slices are much thinner this time around. (The new color scheme in the software where you can isolate specific anatomical features and everything but that feature is greyed out- that was yoinked from my capstone project. It’s a common technique so I can’t really complain. Vic just hadn’t thought of it yet. In the old software, when you highlight a feature, it shows up as a fully pigmented splotch. You can’t see it at all, just its location and general shape. You’re welcome, VHP.)

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Was this her?

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I have the same for my abdomen except it’s filled with ovarian cysts.
I knew about the cysts when I got the MRI. The really shocking thing was seeing how little of my upper thighs was actually muscle.

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That’s her. :slight_smile:

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Wow. I can completely relate. We knew that my leg had neurofibromas all up and down the sciatic nerve, but when you get the scan showing it is larger than a summer sausage… it really is a… feeling.

So, so sorry you can relate.

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I remember the guy in the stairwell at MSI. He was a short black gentleman. I lived across the street and used to visit him often. He wasn’t there last time i visited.

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Not really to my taste though

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To be honest I wasn’t seeing that much fat in the meat that could be rendered for extra flavor.

When the video got down to the legs it was interesting that we were seeing something that was familiar as a ‘slice of meat’ that one would find in a butcher.

Makes you think about what it means to be human when we see another as a dead carcass in fine slices that look like prosciutto.

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Yeah, most of it you’ll want to make into a terrine or confit. Maybe even a nice rillette with the really lean cuts. But those thighs…

image

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