A Study on Student Perception of Virtual Dissection Table (Anatomage) at GSL Medical College, Rajahmundry

Abstract

Introduction:The Anatomage Table is the only fully segmented real human 3D anatomy system. Individual structures are reconstructed in accurate 3D and it helps the medical pre-clinical students to explore and understand human anatomy like never before and even beyond a cadaveric dissection. Anatomage is an interface that affords students the opportunity to explore life-size anatomy on an interactive 3D table. [1] Aim and Objective: The aim of the study was to gather student opinion regarding this virtual dissection table (Anatomage) technology. Subjects and Methods: A questionnaire addressing the role of the Anatomage table in anatomy education and its comparison with various other learning modality was completed by 150 pre-clinical medical students. A free hand comment section was also included in the study. Results: 96% of students strongly preferred the cross sectional planes and images of Anatomage over still images of text book in learning Anatomy. 95% of students strongly agreed that the ability of Anatomage to rotate and dissect is better in visualizing the body systems. 90% of students strongly agreed that Anatomage can be an adjunct or added tool to cadaveric dissection but not its replacement.48% of students believe Anatomage visualisation is better than real dissected structures. Conclusion: Anatomage can play an important role in the acquisition of 3D knowledge of Anatomy and promises to be a useful added tool to traditional learning modalities, which still ranked high. This feedback also reveals that students are fascinated with the inclusion of Anatomage in their curriculum as it helps them in understanding, revising and learning in a better way than before. This virtual dissection table can be of immense help in medical colleges where sufficient number of cadavers are not available for Anatomical study.

Medical Students’ Feedback of Applying the Virtual Dissection Table (Anatomage) in Learning Anatomy: A Cross-sectional Descriptive Study

“…However, the cons of using Anatomage are the variation in the human body (supernumerary muscles, variation in patterning of nerves and blood vessels) cannot be apparent onto the Anatomage table Moreover, the sense of touch of vessels, nerves and internal body structures cannot be gained, and the color of tissues is different from real ones. 11 , 12 The variation in the learning resources of the anatomy using cadaver dissection and 3D Anatomage help in developing deeper learning, which increases knowledge retention and its clinical relevance. 7 , 13 Therefore, 3D Anatomage was implemented in anatomy teaching in addition to cadaver dissection in the department of anatomy at UQUMED.…”

“…In agreement with the findings of this study, it has been found that students understand the locations and relationships of different internal structures when utilizing Anatomage compared to the students using cadaver dissection. 12 , 21 , 22 Moreover, a high proportion of participating students benefitted from the integration of imaging in 3D Anatomage, since it enabled them to understand how anatomy envisioned through medical imaging prepared them for clinical practice.…”

The Ongoing Discussion About Cadaveric Dissection in Medical Education: A Proposed Integrated Approach

“…For example, Donnelly et al ( 2009) report the Visible Human Dissector is extremely useful for understanding cross-sectional anatomy. There is clearly an advantage to having technology to teach gross anatomy (Anand & Singel, 2017;Bharati et al, 2018;Fyfe et al, 2018). For example, Bharati et al (2018) report that 90% of 150 students agreed that the Anatomage table should be used in conjunction with dissection rather than instead of it.…”

“…Based on the literature student surveys show that the best approach to learning anatomy included CD in conjunction with new and alternative modalities (Dissabandara et al, 2015;Rehman et al, 2012;Romero-Reveron, 2017). For example, Bharati et al (2018) report that 90% of 150 students surveyed wanted the Anatomage table to be used in conjunction with CD.…”

Facilitating Student Understanding through Incorporating Digital Images and 3D-Printed Models in a Human Anatomy Course

“…The Human Anatomy course is under a digital revolution enabled by virtual dissection. Several publications show that "Anatomage" table-based education has proven to be effective [28,29]. Virtual Dissection Table "Anatomage" (developed by a 3D medical technology company located in San José (California) in conjunction with Stanford University's Clinical Anatomy Division) is one of the most advanced visualization systems that is used as an instrument in anatomy education [30].…”