AVALIAÇÃO DA EFICÁCIA DOS MODELOS DE IMPRESSÃO 3D COMO FERRAMENTA COMPLEMENTAR NA APRENDIZAGEM DA ANATOMIA HUMANA

Abstract

The training of health professionals is based on Human Anatomy, a discipline commonly taught in the first years of graduation. In recent decades, three-dimensional (3D) printing, which corresponds to an emerging technology that has been used to aid anatomical knowledge, has emerged. It allows the creation of 3D models that replicate human structures, based on data acquired by surface scanning or imaging of patients. Thus, this study had the following objectives: to evaluate the possibility of constructing an anatomical model utilizing this novel resource as a complementary tool in the human anatomy learning process, to submit the constructed model to validation by university professors of Human Anatomy, and to detec its effect on the ability of recognizing anatomical elements in the cadaver. In this study, public domain data were used to build a 3D piece representing the external anatomy of the heart with its vasculature and base vessels, in addition to mediastinal elements, such as the tracheobronchial tree and the esophagus. This model was submitted to faculty analysis at the Department of Morphology (DMORF), at the Health Sciences Center at the Federal University of Paraiba (UFPB), where the study was carried out. All agreed that the 3D model could help in the students' spatial understanding of the represented anatomy and showed interest in using it in their classes. This piece was then used in a clinical trial. To this end, 115 invited students were divided into two groups and submitted to the same practical Anatomy lesson and the same test with 10 similar questions, involving the recognition of pinned elements in cadaveric pieces: intervention and control. With the first group, in addition to cadaveric material, the constructed 3D model was used. Results were statistically analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples. There was a similar performance between the groups, so that no statistically significant difference was perceived between the intervention group (median of correct answers of 5) and the control group (median of correct answers of 5). Despite this, the positive evaluation of the 3D piece by anatomy professors suggests that there is potential to produce models with sufficient refinement for use in teaching Anatomy in undergraduate courses. Furthermore, the proof of the null hypothesis suggests that there are no harms in the use of this technology in teaching. Thus, its potential benefits should be evaluated in further investigations, also contemplating other anatomical regions with greater cognitive load.