Adding Java and CGI Functionality to an On-Line Atlas of Anatomy for Medical Education

Anatomical Atlases are an integral part of basic health sciences education. Recently, there has been an increased importance of sectional anatomy atlases due to the advancements of tomographic and to the difficulties to relate topographic anatomy to the tridimensional anatomy. Computer-based atlases have been increasingly useful for this purpose. Delivery via the Internet and World Wide Web has also been tried with success, such as in the Digital Anatomist. Interactivity may be achieved via HTML maps, CGI (Common Gateway Interface) scripting and embedded Java applications. Aimming to advance beyond the concept of atlas browsing and navigation mechanisms via WWW, it was used extensive client-side processing via JavaScript and applets and server-side processing via CGI programs. Our final goal was to produce an on-line resource truly useful to support assynchronous, distributed learning activities in anatomy, using the images available through the Visible Human Project.