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How effective are 3D models in teaching students abdominal radiography?
VRU 2023 - 64(3): 521-529
Background: This study explores the use of 3D learning tools for improving veterinary students’ ability to interpret normal and abnormal canine abdominal radiographs.
Study: The study was a prospective, randomized, control design with 80 students from the first- and second-year veterinary classes at Texas A&M University. The experimental group studied canine abdominal anatomy using 3D scenes created from CT scans, while the control group studied from a textbook. Both groups took a written exam to assess their learning outcomes.
Methods: The exam consisted of three parts: 3D anatomy organ identification, radiographic anatomy organ identification of normal structures, and radiographic anatomy organ identification of abnormal structures. The exam scores were compared between the two groups using t-tests and ANOVAs.
Results: The experimental group performed significantly better than the control group in identifying the sex of the animal, 3D organ identification, and abnormal radiographic structure identification. There was no significant difference between the groups in identifying normal radiographic structures. The experimental group also performed better in total exam score. There were some differences between class years within each group, but not between genders.
Limitations: The study had some limitations, such as self-selection bias, small sample size, limited exposure to the 3D software, and lack of long-term retention assessment. The study was also limited to canine abdominal anatomy and radiography, and did not evaluate other body systems or species.
Conclusions: The study supported the hypothesis that 3D learning tools improved veterinary students’ translation of spatial relationships between abdominal organs and interpretation of abnormal radiographic images. The study suggested that 3D technology could be beneficial for veterinary anatomy education and clinical practice. Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of 3D learning tools for other aspects of veterinary radiology.
This image represents a single frozen frame from the dorsal plane scene, which is labeled. The organs could only be labeled at a single site with a “button” and the organ labels (name and corresponding line) stayed on the image until the student viewed the scene beyond the “button”. In this image, the “button” is visible for the liver and once the student views the image dorsal to this, the label for liver would disappear
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