gms | German Medical Science

The gross anatomy has always been one of the significant cornerstones of veterinary education. A detailed anatomical knowledge is fundamental for the correct interpretation of clinical imaging and the proper implementation of medical interventions. This also applies to the skeletal system of domestic mammals. The precise knowledge of numerous osseous structures, their topography and definition with technical terms, and their functional and clinical relevance are the basis for understanding the entire musculoskeletal system.

Education is becoming exacerbated due to the constantly rising number of students and the expanding curriculum. The simultaneous decrease in both the number of lessons and teaching staff interferes with comprehensive teaching. Thus, the theoretical training based on books, atlases, lectures and digital learning media predominates. Practical training shifts unfavorably to the background. The majority of the students has particular difficulty in transferring the theory to the real anatomical specimen. Moreover, the correct pronunciation of the technical terminology is especially difficult for beginners.

A reasonable approach to improve the practical education and develop practical combines real anatomical specimens with theoretical digital content. This pathway has been chosen in this project.

In order to implement the new teaching concept, the tracking system from the simulator SonoSim III of Sonofit GmbH (Darmstadt, Germany) was used. The bones of canine and equine thoracic limbs were chosen as an example of an anatomical system. Additionally, audio-, text-, image- and video-files of anatomical specimens, conventional radiographs and CT-scans were integrated into the simulator.

In the case presented, the thoracic limb skeleton of dog and horse was developed with the use of SonoSim III, a novel instrument for autodidactic acquisition of the gross anatomy. When touching the bony structures of a real anatomical specimen with a special pen, suitable explanatory audio and text files will be played or displayed on a monitor. This allows the students to learn the topography independently and autodidactically and to label the osseous structures with the technical terms. Moreover, this system provides the more interested user with additional anatomical and clinical information by showing radiographs of the respective bony structures. This innovative system will support and improve the gross anatomical education as well as encourage the understanding of clinical imaging. The new recently developed learning tool will be used and evaluated in the upcoming semester 2015/16 by the veterinary medicine students of the first semester at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich.