THE world's largest animated three-dimensional hologram of the human body will today be unveiled at a Scottish university.

Standing just under 5ft 7ins, the life-sized image of a woman shows muscle structures, the skeleton, internal organs, blood vessels and nerves.

It was commissioned by the University of Edinburgh's School of Biomedical Sciences as an anatomy teaching aid and is the first of its kind.

Professor Gordon Findlater, professor of translational anatomy at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Teaching the true 3D structure of the human body to medical students can be challenging when teaching material is largely all in 2D.

"We hope that this hologram, and others that we make in future, will introduce our students to a novel and innovative way of visualising 3D anatomy."

Viewers can walk around the image, made of three synthetic layers, to look at it from different angles.

It will go on public display at the university's Anatomy Museum before touring different sites across the campus.

The hologram was produced in collaboration with Edinburgh University anatomists and Scottish company Holoxica, one of the world's leading research companies in holographic 3D displays.

Two years ago, the company created the world's first 3D full colour hologram of a human liver to help surgeons plan operations and radiotherapy to target cancerous tumours.