Digital Age and Medicine: Visualization and Evaluation of Foot Anatomy with Artificial Intelligence

Background/Objectives: Artificial intelligence (AI) has attracted great interest due to its applicability in many fields. The adoption of visual illustration techniques produced by AI in the field of graphic design has further expanded the field of use of this technology. This study focuses on foot anatomy illustrations generated by Adobe Firefly and Microsoft Designer Image Creator applications, evaluating them based on detail, clarity, anatomical realism, accuracy, and aesthetic appeal. Methods: The illustrations were created using text-based scripts, and five anatomists compared them to traditional illustrations from the Sobotta Atlas of Human Anatomy. Results: Fleiss' Kappa statistic was used to analyze consistency among expert evaluations. For the four figures generated by both AI applications, Fleiss' Kappa agreement was high. Adobe Firefly performed slightly better in illustrating phalanx and ankle bones, but its anatomical accuracy was lower for tarsal and metatarsal bones. Microsoft Designer Image Creator excelled in illustrating metatarsal bones, while its tarsal and phalanx illustrations were less anatomically accurate than Adobe Firefly and the atlas drawings. Both programs showed average realism in ankle structures, while the tarsal bones had low realism. Conclusions: Artificial intelligence applications within the scope of the study showed fast performance. Aesthetic appeal is dominant at first glance in the resulting drawings. In general, both applications have struggled to reflect anatomical reality.