Digital science platform: an interactive web application and database of osteological material for anatomy education

Abstract

Background To meet the remote-learning constraints imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Digital Science Platform was developed. Human anatomy courses require practical classes that involve working on prepared specimens, although access to such specimens has been restricted. Therefore, the aim was to prepare appropriate-quality, scanned 3D model databases of human bone specimens and an interactive web application for universal access to educational materials. Main body The database is located on the pcn.cnt.edu.pl website and contains 412 three-dimensional osteological models created via a structured light scanner, tomography and microtomography. The webservice contains a search engine and enables interactive visualization of the models. The database can be accessed, without restrictions, by any student or researcher wishing to use the models for noncommercial purposes. The stored models can be visualized with the open-source VisNow platform, which is also available to download from the webservice. The MariaDB backend database was deployed, and an Apache server with a personal home page (PHP) frontend was used. Conclusion The models in the database are unique due to the specific digitalization process and skeleton specimen origin. Further development of the Digital Science Platform is foreseen in the near future to digitize other valuable materials.