Medical students will soon be assisted in their studies by a virtual cadaver.

Edinburgh University's anatomy school has acquired the hi-tech teaching tool which will allow medical and anatomy students to investigate the human body by "virtually" dissecting it.

Developed by a US company using CT scans, the Anatomage Table shows the full-size male and female form from front to back.

Unlike the dissection of a real cadaver, students can add or remove organs, veins, arteries, nerves or tissue by simply touching the table.

Gordon Findlater, Professor of Translational Anatomy, said: "The beauty is that you can rotate and view the body in all three planes in a unique 3D experience.

"So far we have received a lot of good feedback from the students and surgeons."