PEORIA — The indigent struggling to pay for cremation, no longer covered by the state budget as of last month, may be able to turn to body donation, a low-to-no-cost option that also aids in medical advancement and education.

Illinois whole body donation — not to be confused with tissue, organ or brain donation — is managed by the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois. The organization takes willed bodies — 569 in 2016 — and transports them to various institutions for medical, research and education purposes. The institution keeps the body for at least two years before cremating the remains and sending them back to the family, who only pays for body transportation from the place of death to the association. But there is more to the donating practice than financial savings.

"Some people do donate to our organization because of financial concerns," said Paul Dudek, the association's executive vice president, "but most are donating because they want to give something back."

Donating a body makes it available to be used by medical students. Work with cadavers takes place during a University of Illinois student's first year in Urbana, with second, third and fourth years being offered at the College of Medicine at Peoria. Starting this summer, the Peoria campus will offer all four years, including cadaver work.

Some universities do not provide cadavers anymore. Instead, they utilize various technologies like an Anatomage Table, a giant, tablet-like device that allows students to digitally examine a body, dissect parts of it, make incisions, and see X-rays, MRIs and CT scans.

The College of Medicine at Peoria recently obtained the Anatomage Table in an effort to expand its technological education tools, but it still will provide the university's cadaver curriculum.

"From looking at (the) developing medical professional as a whole, there is something technology cannot replace," said Dr. Jessica Hanks, assistant dean for preclinical curriculum at the Peoria campus. "There is just something (to) being able to actually see the anatomy and look how you get to a specific structure. So if you think about someone that is going to develop into a potential surgeon or develop into a radiologist, anatomy is important for all physicians but is extremely important for these two as well because it is crucial for them to know what they're doing and what they're looking at."

Cadavers allow for more real life situations for students than an Anatomage Table or an artificial physical model, said Shannon Egli, Anatomical Lab coordinator at the Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center. The tissues and organs of a model will not have the same feel as a cadaver, Elgi said. They will not have the same variety, either.

"With anatomy, some people are heavier set, … some people have different disorders," Elgi said, "and when (students) work on a real person, they can see that variance from one person to another, no matter what it is."

Cadavers also are great for testing new medical equipment and seeing how it reacts to real organs and tissue, Egli said.

Science Care, an organization with multiple national locations that recently opened its first Illinois facility, uses donated bodies to research diseases and disorders. It studies Alzheimer’s, heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, hand surgery and arthritis.

"So for a lot of people, even families that turn to us for financial reasons, their biggest walk away from it is actually the medical advancements," said Katrina Hernandez, Science Care vice president. "Just knowing that your loved one was able to help after life brings a smile on their face rather than the overwhelming grief that comes after one's passing."

Seeing the number of people who struggle to pay for funerals and burials, Hernandez said it shows how few know about body donation.

"For me, it’s shocking how many people don’t take the route of body donation, being that it has such a positive light to it," Hernandez said. "In addition, it’s no cost cremation. So I think it’s important for all of us to educate every consumer in all end of life options, and (among) end of life options, there is a no cost option."

More information about the AGAI and Science Care can be found at agaillinois.org and sciencecare.com or by calling AGAI at (312) 733-5283 or Science Care at (800) 417-3747.

Tim Rosenberger can be reached at 686-3196 and trosenberger@pjstar.com. Follow him at twitter.com/PJSTimR.