Anatomical software as a tool in the teaching‐learning process of human anatomy. Literature Review

Abstract

IntroductionFor several decades and centuries, the use of corpses and plastic samples have been the gold standard for teaching human anatomy in undergraduate. The constant technological evolution worldwide has not left human anatomy behind. In relation to this, since the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century an enormous amount of anatomical software has been developed to support the teaching of human anatomy. which have been well accepted by both students and academics, but to date they have not been an academic revulsion to be the gold standard tool in the teaching of human anatomy.MethodsA systematic search of the literature in different databases was carried out to answer the following research question: Does the use of anatomical software improve the teaching‐learning process of students of human anatomy? The articles were filtered through criteria of inclusion and exclusion defined by the authors of this review (Fig 1). The search was done using the following terms: “Anatomical software”, “anatomical education”, “learning anatomy”, “3D anatomical”, the terms were joined through the boolean connectors “AND” “OR” “NOT”, with the above more sensitivity was given to the search strategy of Potentially readable items.ResultsThe analysis of the full‐text studies revealed that there is a wide variety of studies available in the scientific literature, which detail how these technological tools contribute to the study of human anatomy, although 65 studies were found when conducting our search that met the inclusion criteria established, when analyzing only 8 reported that the software was used for the use of learning in undergraduate or graduate students (Table 1). The analysis of all studies was measured through short questionnaire surveys or saturation surveys in which the students presented their experiences and degree of satisfaction with anatomical software through guided questions previously established by the authors. The other number of studies only analyzed the quality of the software or detailed the processes of elaboration of these. Another of the relevant things that have been analyzed is that most of the software used in the articles corresponded to skull software. The distribution is detailed in table 2.ConclusionThis review leaves us with quite a lot of questions especially in relation to the fact that our question addressed how anatomical software could influence the teaching‐learning process since no study related how software influences this process. We hoped to find that answer through some type of evaluation or some type of brain activation analysis which would allow us to analyze some cortical areas that will be enhanced with the use of software, given the above we believe that this leaves a window open for the realization of new studies that can address the previously proposed in order to attribute characteristics of the anatomical software available for the study of human anatomy and how to use them in different teaching processes.Support or Funding InformationUniversity of the Americas (Chile) Summary of studies that conducted their studies on students of human anatomy. Author and year Title Number of subjects evaluated Type of evaluation Sofware used Effects on learning Agbetoba A, 2018 Educational Utility of Advanced 3‐Dimensional Virtual Imaging in Evaluating the Anatomical Configuration of the Frontal Recess 45 ENT students and 20 medical students from five academic institutions. Survey RadiAnt Dicom Viewer Version 1.9.16 from Medixant, Pozan, Pland) Compared to a 3D software When asked which learning modality most helped to understand the spatial orientation of the frontal sinus, 56 students (86%) chose 3D learning, 3 students (5%) chose traditional 2D learning, and the remaining 6 students (9%) reported no difference between the two modalities. Chen P. 2018 Teaching Residents Frontal Sinus Anatomy Using a Novel 3‐Dimensional Conceptualization Planning Software‐Based Module 50 subjects Evaluate the recognition of frontal sinus structures. Scopis building block Participants in the FSMC using innovative software demonstrated improvements in the ability to Softwares disponibles en la literature cientifica para el studio de la anatomia humana. Software available in the scientific literature for the study of human anatomy Software name Software link Specific contents of the software RadiAnt Dicom Viewer Version 1.9.16 from Medixant, Pozan, Pland) http://www.radiantviewer.com/radiant‐dicom‐viewer‐standard.php. 2D sphenoid bone Use of Amira software, version 5.2 https://www.thermofisher.com/cl/es/home/industrial/electron‐microscopy/electron‐microscopy‐instruments‐workflow‐solutions/3d‐visualization‐analysis‐software/amira‐life‐sciences‐biomedical.html Creation of an eye model with specific structures. SPM5 https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/spm/software/spm5/ Brain 3D‐Slicer https://www.slicer.org/ Pterygopalatine fossa Scopis building block https://scopis.myshopify.com/ Frontal Sinus VOXEL‐MAN TemopoSurg https://www.voxel‐man.com/gallery/temposurg/ 3D frontal bone The Chinese Visible Human Project http://www.visageimaging.com/ Neck, specifically larynx InVesalius https://www.cti.gov.br/pt‐br/invesalius Skull Itk‐SNAP http://www.itksnap.org/pmwiki/prnwiki.php Skull VuePACS3D https://es.allypacs.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiA66_xBRBhEiwAhrMuLelC5M2K164Ejh‐‐ Skull