The role of augmented reality in Anatomical education: An overview

The outcomes of the implementation of augmented reality (AR) in anatomical education have not been reviewed so far. We performed a narrative review of the literature concerning these outcomes.

We searched in the databases PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, ERIC, CINAHL plus and Web of Science for papers with the aim to explore the outcomes of the implementation of AR in anatomical education. From each paper, we extracted the following data: authors, year of publication, type of study (comparative or not), number of participants, level of outcome according to Kirkpatrick hierarchy, acceptability of AR, impact on examinations performance, ability to facilitate understanding of spatial organization of structures and to motivate students to learn anatomy.

Seven papers were eligible for analysis. There were five comparative and two non-comparative studies. Three studies evaluated only students' perceptions about AR, while four papers assessed their examinations performance after the application of AR. Generally, AR was proved a highly acceptable and enjoyable anatomy teaching tool. It had remarkable efficacy in terms of helping students understand three-dimensional organization of structures and achieve satisfactory examinations results.

Although the research concerning the implementation of AR in anatomical education is relatively limited, there are promising results regarding the teaching potential of AR. These results could encourage anatomy educators to include this tool in their teaching methods. Randomized controlled studies are needed to prove if AR could effectively replace or supplement other anatomy pedagogy methods.