The SAPIENS 3D-printed temporal bone model: a real tool for advanced otologic surgery education

Our study focused on the development and evaluation of the SAPIENS (Specific Anatomical Printed-3D-model In Education and New Surgical Simulations) as a valid tool for otologic surgical education.

Twenty junior otolaryngologist surgeons in training were enrolled in the study. Each participant was invited to perform dissection of three different temporal bones. 1)Transparent 3-D printed model; 2)Opaque 3-D model; 3)fresh frozen human temporal bone. Following their drilling experience, participants answered to two specific questionnaires. The first was a questionnaire developed by Mowry et al. to evaluate 3D models in its general characteristics of anatomy and dissection, while the second one was a questionnaire specifically designed to compare the 3-D printed models with the human fresh frozen temporal bone.

The average total score of the questionnaire was calculated as 53.2/61 in transparent 3-D model and 55.4/61 in the opaque 3-D model. These values indicate that the 3D printed models closely resemble the human TB in terms of anatomy and dissection. Comparisons of the 3D model and human TB were rated as very similar in all surgical steps. The total score was 4/5 in the transparent 3-D model and 4.2/5 in the opaque 3-D model.

We have designed and developed a 3D-printed model of the temporal bone that closely resembles the human temporal bone. The SAPIENS 3-D printed temporal bone model could be considered a valuable tool for advancing oto-surgical education due to its similarity to the human temporal bone in terms of anatomy and dissection.