Three‐Dimensional Printing of Archived Human Fetal Material for Teaching Purposes

Abstract

The practical aspect of human developmental biology education is often limited to the observation and use of animal models to illustrate developmental anatomy. This is due in part to the difficulty of accessing human embryonic and fetal specimens, and the sensitivity inherent to presenting these specimens as teaching materials. This report presents a new approach using three-dimensional (3D) printed replicas of actual human materials in practical classes, thus allowing for the inclusion of accurate examples of human developmental anatomy in the educational context. A series of 3D prints have been produced from digital data collected by computed tomography (CT) imaging of an archived series of preserved human embryonic and fetal specimens. The final versions of 3D prints have been generated in a range of single or multiple materials to illustrate the progression of human development, including the development of internal anatomy. Furthermore, multiple copies of each replica have been printed for large group teaching. In addition to the educational benefit of examining accurate 3D replicas, this approach lessens the potential for adverse student reaction (due to cultural background or personal experience) to observing actual human embryonic/fetal anatomical specimens, and reduces the potential of damage or loss of original specimens. This approach, in combination with ongoing improvements in the management and analysis of digital data and advances in scanning technology, has enormous potential to allow embryology students access to both local and international collections of human gestational material. Anat Sci Educ 00: 000-000. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.

Three-Dimensional Printing of Fetal Models of Congenital Heart Disease Derived From Microfocus Computed Tomography: A Case Series

“…These models can potentially represent a valuable resource for teaching fetal cardiac anatomy to medical students and trainees as well, presenting both normal fetal cardiovascular anatomy and congenital heart defects of different complexity. Whilst this should be systematically assessed in the context of cardiac morphology teaching, evidence is beginning to suggest that accurate 3D printed replicas can improve the teaching experience, reducing potential adverse reactions from students (e.g., in relation to cultural or religious backgrounds) and also holding the potential to show fetal development at different stages, to illustrate its full progression (21). Educational values of 3D printing models from micro-CT could play even a more important role in our era, where early fetal echocardiography is offered to high risk pregnancies since the eleventh week of gestation.…”

The reproduction of human pathology specimens using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology for teaching purposes

“…Our experience in producing a successful collection of 3 D printed normal anatomy replicas (www.3danatomyseries. com) (McMenamin et al 2014), which have been proven effective in anatomy teaching (Lim et al 2016) and a human foetal collection (Young et al 2019), has equipped us with the technical skills and resources to overcome some of the challenges of accurately recreating and replicating colour, fine detail and 3 D form, which were considered essential before embarking on producing 3 D printed replicas of human pathology specimens.…”

“…There are many types of 3 D printers available which use a variety of media, substrates, and printing techniques. In our previous studies (McMenamin et al 2014;Young et al 2019) we utilized a 3 D Systems (formerly Z Corporation) Z650 (3 D Systems, Inc., Rock Hill, SC) powder printer or a Projet 4500 plastic powder printer. However, we found these printers to be insufficient to capture the colour detail and surface fidelity required for quality reproduction of pathology specimens (see Results).…”

A Sequência Fedathi e o uso de tecnologias digitais 3D como recursos metodológicos para o ensino de anatomia humana: uma revisão integrativa

“…Achados semelhantes também foram relatados para o estudo em embriologia embrionária e fetal, onde após a utilização de tomografia computadorizada foi possível criar peças semelhantes a anatomia original, além de reduzir o dano potencial dos espécimes originais, apresentando dessa forma grande vantagem devido à dificuldade de obtenção de fetos e embriões pelas universidades. Outra característica interessante é a possibilidade de imprimir várias peças e tornar a aula mais interativa (Young et al, 2019).…”