Materia Medica Malaysiana

Medical studies come alive

STUDYING about human anatomy from a textbook can be daunting, especially when you're staring at a picture of a heart and trying to visualise the complicated cells in the organ.

Medical students will soon be able to tap into new ways of learning, using 3D visuals with multimedia technology to make organs “come alive.”

“Most teaching and learning materials today are still available in 2D format, which does not make it easy for students to visualise,” says International Medical University (IMU) Assoc Prof Dr John Paul Judson.

In an effort to promote the development of multimedia learning materials, IMU and Multimedia University (MMU) have jointly set up the Centre for Advanced Medical Multimedia Research (CAMMR).

“The aim of CAMMR is to conduct research in systems programming and multimedia, as well as to develop computer-aided teaching applications to support medical education,” says IMU president Tan Sri Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman.

To kick-start the centre's research activities, the centre will first come up with teaching and learning materials for the cardiovascular system. This will be made part of an Intelligent Multimedia Archiving System initiated by both universities.

“MMU has been conducting research and indexing based on visuals; we will definitely inculcate this new technology into the projects undertaken by CAMMR,” says MMU president Prof Dr Ghauth Jasmon, after signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IMU.

The centre will bring together faculty members, support staff and development teams from both IMU and MMU. There will be two main offices, one in IMU Bukit Jalil and the other in MMU Cyberjaya. It is expected that the centre will boost local and international participation in medical multimedia research and development.

“IMU will spearhead the medical research while MMU manages the development area. This 'marriage' will help us realise our objective to make Malaysia a regional centre of excellence in education, and allow it to become a key player in the dissemination of quality education to countries in the Asia-Pacific region,” says Dr Abu Bakar.

“It is logical that each institution contributes its area of strength and collaborates to promote e-learning,” he adds.

MMU Faculty of Creative Multimedia dean Dr Ahmad Rafi Mohamed Eshaq says that the move to produce and incorporate interactive e-learning elements such as animation, video and graphics into teaching materials and modules for medical and allied health students and professionals is timely.

“Multimedia has always leaned towards the entertainment industry but it will now be used for something more serious,” he says.

Among the projects proposed to be handled by the centre are the Advanced 2D and 3D Reusable Learning Objects, which support delivery of the Virtual Medical University (VMU) applications.

Dr John, who is also VMU's associate dean, says VMU encourages IMU students and faculty to play an interactive role in the learning process. Initiated three years ago, VMU currently comprises nine major applications that can be used independently or inter-dependently.

“We hope that components in the project can be made available to other universities abroad for the training of medical and allied health professionals,” says Dr Abu Bakar.

He adds that IMU has already invested over RM4mil in research activities under VMU.

The centre will also look into 4D animation in advanced imaging in cardiology, obstetrics and gynaecology, as well as in other related medical disciplines for the teaching and practice of clinical medicine.

“We are also eager to begin work on the Museum of Life, which is expected to commence in a few months and should take about three years to complete,” says IMU chief knowledge officer Kahlil Anwar Kamal.

The Museum of Life project uses various applications and simulators to highlight medical cases, and includes e-exhibitions and multimedia movies.

Dr John Paul also speaks enthusiastically about the possibility of a human body 3D-Navigator.

“The navigator is a 3D simulation prototype that allows the user to navigate through the human body and access information. This will help activate various scenarios in the teaching of clinical anatomy,” he explains.