The application of 3D printing in anatomy education

M odern medical education relies on a wealth of resources as one of the key elements in developing students' clinical competencies. Acquiring these resources represents a considerable challenge for many medical schools, not only for financial but also a variety of other reasons, including ethical, legal, and cultural. Obtaining human tissue, in particular, faces many constraints, which, in some countries and cultural circles, create serious problems for medical educators. However, modern technology seems to offer solutions in acquisition of at least some of the resources. Among the new technologies that have in recent years entered the biome-dical fields in research, practice, and education are the rapid prototyping techniques, particularly as applied in three-dimensional (3D) printing (1, 2). In this paper, using an example from Australia's Macquarie University and Western Sydney University, we outline how 3D printing can be successfully used in anatomy education. Utilisation of 3D printing is a part of the long-term educational project at both these institutions, including fields as diverse as medicine, arts, and sciences. In anatomy, the first stage of the project, described here, focused on producing highly accurate 3D prints of human bones. Acquiring in-depth knowledge of human structures and the ability to apply this knowledge within the clinical context is an imperative in many medical disciplines (3, 4). anatomy instruction is provided to a diverse group of students enrolled in medical and science degrees. Teaching is carried out through the utilisation of a variety of resources. In the anatomy laboratory various medical images are utilised, together with anatomy models, prosected cada-vers, and human bones. To the existing resources, a new addition was made this year Á 3D prints of selected bones. These prints were made from the 3D surface scans of the bones from the Macquarie University Skeletal Collection. There were several reasons for the decision to start the 3D-printing project with human bones. First, bones almost naturally lend themselves for printing as they are generally monochromatic and made of hard tissue. Technically, this makes them the easiest component of the human body to duplicate in 3D printing, with high levels of accuracy, preserving both visual and haptic values of the real tissue. Second, obtaining bones for anatomical study is a complex process. Although obtaining cadavers for anatomy education (with time restrictions because of the legal requirement to cremate the body within the maximum of 8 years) does not represent a problem, thanks to …