The dedicated website Digital Herbarium for Chinese Medicines (DHCM) is established by the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute (GCMTI) of the Department of Health (DH) through digitalisation of Chinese medicines specimens into a digital collection. High-resolution pictures and related data of 220 commonly used Chinese materia medica (CMM) and their source plants are currently included at the DHCM. It is the first online herbarium of its kind that provides comprehensive information on Chinese medicines, and also the first in the world using photogrammetry to produce three dimensional (3D) images on traceable CMM specimens.

Users of the DHCM may use the name of CMM or plants, their medicinal uses, collection locations, or medicinal parts as keywords to search for information of the Chinese medicines. The uses, precautions on proper use, and storage information of each CMM are provided. The scientific information such as chemical information, microscopic slides, DNA sequences and 3D images are also provided for some CMM.

Furthermore, virtual reality (VR) technology is also used in the DHCM to provide a virtual tour to the Chinese Medicines Herbarium of the GCMTI for users. They will be able to view the precious CMM specimens donated by the National Medical Products Administration through the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control.

Visit DH's dedicated website Digital Herbarium for Chinese Medicines to know more now!