A Skeleton in the Cloud: Saratov Team Builds a Digital Anatomy Library for Veterinarians

From a Grandmother’s Cat to a Digital Atlas

A pair of students from Vavilov University’s Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy are developing a concept for a comprehensive online platform that allows users to compare anatomical characteristics across animal species. Second-year student Elizaveta Rodina, who once saved her grandmother’s cat by performing emergency surgery while still in college, is leading the effort alongside classmate Marina Sedova.

The project is supported by mentors from the Department of Morphology, Animal Pathology, and Biology, including Professor Irina Ziruk and researcher Marina Kopchekchi. Their goal is to create a centralized digital resource containing structured anatomical references—images, diagrams, and textual descriptions—that could modernize how future veterinarians learn and how practitioners reference anatomy in clinical settings.

Code Meets Biology

The platform is still in the conceptual stage, with significant work ahead: digitizing large amounts of anatomical material, designing an intuitive interface, and integrating visualization technologies. Developers envision two primary growth directions: first, becoming a core educational and reference tool in Russian universities, clinics, and laboratories; and second, expanding into interactive 3D models and virtual atlases to enhance comprehension.

Long-term possibilities include pairing the atlas with AI tools to assist in interpreting scans or planning surgical approaches—applications that rely on large volumes of structured anatomical data.

“Artificial intelligence is not magic—it is technology. It helps doctors and clinic managers offload routine tasks and focus on decision-making and clinical reasoning. Veterinary medicine should not wait for tools to arrive from human healthcare. Everything that works there is needed here today. A computer cannot empathize, but it can retain an enormous volume of information and deliver answers instantly. Anyone who knows how to use AI will always stay ahead.”

Maxim Lapshin

Deputy CEO of New Veterinary Technologies

A high-quality implementation may even attract international institutions, particularly in regions lacking equivalent digital veterinary resources.

Wings, Limbs, and Tails

“The end product is an online platform that lets users easily compare anatomical features across animal species—from skeletal structures and internal organs to external characteristics,” Rodina explains. Indeed, few public digital anatomical atlases exist for veterinary use in Russia.

Globally, however, digital anatomy is a strong trend. Human medicine adopted interactive 3D atlases and virtual simulators years ago. One of the closest technological analogs in veterinary science is VET DINO, a 2025 research project that trained neural networks on millions of clinical X-rays captured from different angles.

The system allowed AI models to learn consistent anatomical structures and infer 3D relationships from 2D projections, demonstrating the value of massive, well-organized datasets for advancing veterinary AI.

Virtual Dissection Ahead

The Saratov initiative is a timely contribution to the digital transformation of veterinary science. If successfully implemented, it could form the basis for standardized digital learning materials across universities and clinics.

Challenges remain: limited funding, technical difficulty in producing high-quality 3D content, and uncertainty around initial demand. Yet overcoming these obstacles could position the project as a catalyst for broader modernization, showcasing how digital tools can reshape veterinary education and practice.