Photogrammetry: Adding Another Dimension to Virtual Gross Pathology Teaching

Abstract

Pathology is a discipline that relies on the description and interpretation of changes occurring in organs and tissues, and it is largely a “hands-on” experience, both during training and professional practice. Instigated by the need to provide a solution for online learning and teaching, a plethora of different approaches have been tested during the Covid-19 pandemic. The enforced inability to meet in person created the necessity to quickly replace the hands-on experience of practical classes, routinely considered the “gold standard” in undergraduate pathology teaching, with alternative and innovative digital solutions that could allow the students to appreciate most, if not all, features of the specimen to describe and interpret. Here we present a successful deployment of photogrammetry for the purpose of teaching gross veterinary pathology to undergraduate students. Fresh specimens obtained during routine diagnostic post-mortem activity have been photographed using Digital Single-Lens Reflex cameras and rendered into high quality 3D models, preserving almost unaltered morphology, color, and texture, when compared to the original specimen. Once processed using photogrammetry software, exported and uploaded into an online repository, 3D models become readily available via our digital learning platform (CANVAS) to all undergraduate students for self-study and consolidation, as well as to teaching staff for use during online lectures, traditional face-to-face classes, small group teaching and seminars. Preliminary data collected from students’ feedback highlighted the positive reception from users, and the enriched learning experience, while prolonging indefinitely the availability of rare and perishable teaching material.