A new app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad has been released which shows a fascinating digital view of early stage embryos.

The Embryo app also provides human fertilization videos, photo micrographs of early-stage embryo development, 2D and 3D digital images using visual stack dissections, and a pregnancy calculator.

It has been created by The US National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world largest medical library and a component of the National Institutes of Health.

The National Museum of Health & Medicine's Human Developmental Anatomy Center (HDAC) acquires and maintains collections pertaining to general developmental anatomy and neuroanatomy. Scientists and educators have used the National Museum of Health and Medicine's Carnegie Embryo Collection to define normal human embryo development for decades. This archival collection was developed between approximately 1887 to 1956 and focuses on normal development in the first eight weeks. The Virtual Human Embryo database was created to provide digital serial sections of human embryos from the collection.

The app can be downloaded at http://itunes.apple.com/app/embryo/id422337604.