Application of Virtual Reality for Teaching in the Dissection Room
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Date
2021-09
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) is a computer graphics technology which can be used to develop
applications to support teaching human anatomy. Using VR, virtual 3D models of various parts
of the human body can be developed and interacted with. The present thesis work addresses the
problem that medical students often encounter in their practice in wet specimens with the
absence of cadavers, using kidney as an example. The main objective of the thesis is to
reconstruct highly detailed 3D virtual model of the kidney based on small interval cross-
sectional images (CT-DICOM dataset), suitable for undergraduate students teaching virtual
dissection through animation using kidney as an example, to supplement the wet specimen
dissection procedure.. A 3D slicer software is used to develop 3D model of the kidney from the
imported CT-DICOM data. Output of the 3D slicer is high poly object which is exported in an
STL file format to the Transmutr software for simplifying the number of faces of the model by
preserving the overall shapes of the original object which is used by Google sketch up & SimLab
Composer software. Google Sketch Up is used for dissecting the kidney while SimLab
Composer is used for rendering the 3D image and finally used for interactive VR viewing
purpose. The final results of the developed 3D model of the kidney are used for interactive
virtual reality viewing using desktop computer and virtually dissecting the kidney using Google
sketch Up for visualization of the internal structure of the developed model. The developed 3D
model allows students to perform detaching and interactively viewing a dissected kidney
sequentially without the need of a supervisor. It can be also used inside the dissecting room to
practice virtual kidney dissection by other medical practitioners.
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Keywords
Virtual reality, CT-DICOM dataset, 3D Virtual model