Experimental Biology 2020 Meeting Abstracts

NYU School of Medicine recently embarked on a re-design of its anatomy curriculum that decreased the use of cadavers with plastinated specimens. Plastinated models provide an authentic learning experience of the human body, but lack necessary labels outlining important structures. Due to the fragile nature of the specimens, we endeavored to solve the challenge of labeling by developing a digitized supplement and archive of plastinated and pathology specimens. An interdisciplinary team of faculty and multimedia designers at NYU School of Medicine designed and developed electronic resources related to the artistic models and plastinated specimens. Over the course of three months, 60 artistic and plastinated models of different sizes were captured from dozens of angles using a digital camera or an Artec Leo Scanner. The numerous image captures of the plastinated specimens were processed in Agisoft Metashape, a stand-alone software product, that performs photogrammetric processing of digital images and generates 3D spatial data. After Agisoft Metashape exported a complex 3D mesh with a high-resolution texture, anatomy faculty added labels to the digitized 3D anatomy specimens using the Sketchfab web platform. The labeled 3D anatomy models were then uploaded into the Living Anatomy site on NYU School of Medicine's learning management system for students to explore before, during, and after their anatomy lab sessions. Quizzes using these models also were created to help students identify the structures and link them to physiology and clinical scenarios. The digitized 3D models allow students to zoom in, rotate and explore the specimens in a more interactive way, thereby enhancing the process of just observing fragile plastination models. When asked, 84% of students reported that the 3D models of plastinated specimens contributed "very much so" to their learning of anatomical relationships. We will continue to find opportunities for the meaningful integration of these 3D models within the anatomy curriculum as well as into other pre-clerkship and clerkship modules. We will also assess the educational outcomes of the 3D models and, by doing so, will incorporate instructional design into the process.