Synthetic cadaver visits Tennessee Valley-area high schools

ATHENS, Ala. - High school science students across the Tennessee Valley are getting about as close as one can get to working with a real cadaver.

They call her Lady Abra Cadaver, and she's a realistic, synthetic version of the dead human bodies used for medical research.

On loan from Athens State University, which won the cadaver in a contest from its Florida-based maker SynDaver Labs, she's on tour with Alabama Science in Motion, visiting high schools across the region.

"It's very real. It feels real," said Alycia Townsend, a teacher at Athens High School where the artificial body made its first ASIM stop last week. "The things the students are getting out of this is the weight and texture and feel of an actual human, so when you take the liver out, it feels like a human liver, and you get the size and proportion of an actual human, and you can see how everything fits together."

With plans to visit area high schools through May, ASIM brought the fake cadaver to Albert P. Brewer High School in Somerville last week, where anatomy and health-science students got to work with it.

While some students at both Brewer and Athens declined to touch the model - on the basis that it was too realistic - most gathered around the fake corpse to learn about the internal workings of a human by sight and touch.

"I've skinned animals before, so it doesn't really bother me," said Jake Etheridge, an honors anatomy student at Brewer High. "Their internal organs are pretty much the same. It's just the size and proportions that are different."

An educational model, Ms. Cadaver lacks skin and bodily fluids, which cuts down on the gross-out factor, Townsend said.

A female, she measures 5-foot-6 and weighs 125 pounds, which means she's pretty fit. Of that body weight, 74 percent is water, just like a human.

When not in use, the artificial cadaver is stored in a 500-gallon tank treated with pool chemicals to prevent bacterial growth and keep her from drying out. ASIM transports her in a body bag on a gurney when visiting schools.

ASIM Biology Content Specialist Sarah Lowman said they believe her teeth may be real, but the company won't say if any parts aren't synthetic.

The Florida-based maker has more advanced versions that bleed, breathe and even react to stimuli, Lowman said.

Designed for trauma training, surgical education and medical-device development, they've been featured on the ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" and as test dummies on the Discovery Channel's "MythBusters," according to Lowman.

The company's founder appeared with one of the cadavers on the investment reality TV show "Shark Tank" in 2015, seeking a $3 million investment in the company.

Lowman said Sara Cline, an Athens State biology professor, made the contest entry that won the synthetic body. As a condition of the award, the cadaver must be used for Athens State classes each fall and by Alabama Science in Motion for high school courses each spring.

Lowman said the fake corpse is designed to last 10 years and would have cost at least $40,000 had the university not won it from the manufacturer.

This is the first time the synthetic cadaver has visited area high schools.

It comes as Gov. Robert Bentley's proposed budget for the next fiscal year calls for eliminating the state's $1.5 million funding of Alabama Science in Motion, a partnership between universities and high schools.

Upcoming Events