The 3-Dimensional Temporal Bone Dissection Manual: Operable Stepwise Models for Teaching Otologic Surgery

Deconstructing surgeries into steps and providing instructions with illustrations has been the staple of surgical textbooks for decades. However, it may be difficult for the novice surgeon to interpret 2-dimensional (2D) illustrations into 3D surgeries. The objective of this study is to create operable models that demonstrate the progression of surgery in 3D and allow for mastering the final steps of the operation first. Mastoidectomy was performed in a stepwise fashion to different end points on 5 identical 3D-printed temporal bone models to represent 5 major steps of the operation. The drilled models were computed tomography scanned and the subsequent images were used to create 3D model copies of each step. This is the first study to demonstrate that it is possible to create, scan, and copy stepwise, operable, patient-specific 3D-printed models, which the trainee can both reference as a 3D dissection guide and can operate on repeatedly and in any order.