21-05-2025
A Look at 8 Interactive Anatomy Apps for Med Students
In her first semester of medical school, Ava Dunlap took part in a small-group seminar where students would review real and hypothetical patient cases. One day, the students analyzed the historical case of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who was shot and killed on a naval ship in 1805.
The students had to visualize how the bullet traversed each part of his body in its pathway, think through what they might see on imaging for other similar penetrating wounds, and consider how they would treat them.
As had become typical for the group, the first step was to pull up Complete Anatomy — an interactive anatomy learning platform — on a TV to better visualize how the bullet tore through Nelson's tissues. Using the app's vast capacities, the students were able to virtually 'pull layers off as the bullet went deeper to figure out where that path was,' said Dunlap, who attends Mercer University School of Medicine in Columbus, Georgia.
'This is why these things happened in this patient,' she recalls learning, 'and we were able to visualize that more than just drawing it on the board or copying and pasting pictures into our document.'
Medical students at Mercer don't always have access to the cadaver lab, but they can use Complete Anatomy anytime they want. (It's included with their tuition.) So, Dunlap regularly reviewed the app.
'It would make me more oriented when I got into cadaver lab,' she said.
Some medical schools, such as NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York City, are moving away from the use of cadavers in anatomy coursework. One study found that medical students who study anatomy through a mixed reality device performed as well on a practical exam as students who used cadavers to study. The mixed reality method reduced teaching time, too.
'Certainly [virtual anatomy apps] are not meant to fully replace the techniques and/or the kind of feel of an actual human, but they can really help, I think, to augment learning and allow learning to happen over and over at a time and a space that's convenient to our learners,' said Traci Wolbrink, MD, co-director of the Center for Educational Excellence and Innovation at Boston Children's Hospital.
If you are a medical student, these eight interactive anatomy apps may help to boost learning.
1. Complete Anatomy
This 3D learning platform (and app) is used at 'top medical universities around the world,' according to its creator 3D4Medical. It offers over 13,000 interactive structures from 12 body systems. There are layer-controlled systems, interactive cross sections, depictions of muscle motion, full-body skeletal maps, and realistic textures.
It is cross platform, meaning that students can access it from any device. This app is considered 3D4Medical's 'flagship app and the most updated one,' according to parent company Elsevier customer service representative Marianna Odivilas.
First-year medical student Dunlap used Complete Anatomy almost daily last semester.
Aside from occasionally getting 'a little bit buggy' when she tried to rotate the images, there were no other downsides, she said.
'It offers dynamic simulations of muscle movement, deeper anatomical detail, and even virtual dissection tools,' said Andres Diaz in an email. Diaz is studying at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, Arizona. He has completed 2 years of medical school and is now working on his PhD in cancer biology. 'The trade-off is that it's more complex, takes up a lot of storage, and is better suited for larger screens (PC/tablet) than mobile phones,' he said.
The app is discounted for students to $39.99 for the first year, and then it goes up to $74.99 per year. For professionals, it costs $99.99 per year.
2. Essential Anatomy 5
Students can get a comprehensive education on anatomy with this 3D, interactive anatomy app, which provides detailed models of the human body. Essential Anatomy 5 is also by 3D4Medical, but it is not cross-platform.
It may be considered more 'outdated' than Complete Anatomy which 'offers broader information and more features,' Odivilas said in a web chat. However, Essential Anatomy 5 has worked perfectly well for Ashwin Chetty, a second-year medical student at Yale School of Medicine.
'It's essentially an interactive dissection but clean, easy to understand,' Chetty told Medscape Medical News . 'I don't know how I would have learned anatomy without it.'
The app includes 11 body systems, 8200 anatomical structures, and comes with preset modes, Chetty said, 'where you can get just pelvic anatomy, just facial anatomy, different organ systems.'
The app costs $19.99 on the App Store and $11.99 on Google Play.
3. Visible Body Suite (VBS)
Many schools — over 1000 academic institutions including Tufts University, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and some K-12 districts — offer students the VBS platform, which includes a 3D interactive anatomy app and web-based version, according to the company. VBS offers anatomical models of humans and other animals. The app provides cadaveric and diagnostic images, histological slides, and a virtual microscope.
VBS, which now includes many features from the Human Anatomy Atlas app (talked about next), costs $34.99 per year for students and $199 per year for classroom and professional subscriptions. Medical schools and other academic institutions may offer students access to VBS through institutional subscriptions.
4. Human Anatomy Atlas
While features of this app are now part of the aforementioned VBS app, it can also be purchased by itself. This app — an older, less expensive and less encompassing version of VBS — is by far the best anatomy app on the market, said Diaz.
Diaz used the app extensively during his first 2 years of medical school. '…it played a major role in helping me succeed on anatomy exams and solidify core concepts,' he said in an email. 'Its ability to isolate and rotate structures, along with labeled layers, made it very user-friendly and ideal for visual learners.'
The limitation of Human Anatomy Atlas is that it is relatively static, Diaz said. 'While it excels in structural detail, it doesn't simulate motion or biomechanics well, which meant I needed to supplement it with additional videos or resources.'
The Human Anatomy Atlas 2025 app costs $24.99.
5. Kenhub
Kenhub is a web-based tool for learning anatomy. (Note: It is not a standalone app, but medical students can also add Kenhub to their mobile home screens and this may provide functionality similar to an app.)
Kenhub offers many interactive tools customized for beginner to advanced learners. It provides thousands of anatomic illustrations, video tutorials about basic anatomy and clinical applications, interactive quizzes, a color-coded interactive atlas to learn anatomical structures, and numerous comprehensive articles.
The main anatomy-related content references used to support the tools are 'Gray's Anatomy for Students' and 'Moore's Clinically Oriented Anatomy,' according to the website.
Users can obtain a free plan that provides access to the anatomy atlas and articles or purchase a premium plan that provides additional access to quizzes, videos, and other supplemental materials.
Kenhub Premium costs $39 per month or $87 for a 3-month subscription. Lifetime access costs $290.
6. Muscle & Motion
This interactive app focuses on the biomechanics and anatomy of movement. It offers over 2000 high-quality 3D videos about different muscles and their functions. Students can watch videos and animations about how different muscles move in real time and learn about each muscle's origin, insertion, and action.
Students may also access a video library on common movement dysfunctions, posture, and core training.
Subscriptions options are: $10 per month, $40 annually, or $80 for 3 years.
7. BioDigital
This app provides a library of over 600 3D interactive health condition models along with simulations of physiology and procedures. It combines anatomy with physiology and pathology, so it is helpful for exploring disease processes alongside anatomical structures.
There is a free version which includes limited storage and model views.
A paid version — which offers complete access to the library of over 700 models and unlimited storage — costs $19.99 per year.
8. BlueLink Anatomy
This website is not an app per se, but 'it has a really good cadaveric images, as well as excellent quizzes and ways to assess yourself,' Diaz wrote in a text message.
It's a collection of anatomy lectures, videos, quizzes, and practice questions. BlueLink Anatomy includes comprehensive lab manuals, conceptual images, educational screencasts, and online modules which are interactive.
It is 'a multimedia-based education resource developed by Dr B. Kathleen Alsup and Glenn Fox of the Division of Anatomical Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School,' according to the website. 'BlueLink is a portable and scalable approach to engaging students within a digital ecosystem.'
Materials are free to use for educational purposes and 'are designed for global access and helping to promote education equity,' the website says.
