TDK conference 2014

Because of characteristics of the curriculum of the anatomy, the visual demonstration has always had a very important role in its education. The digital tools available today and the increasing demand of the students make it reasonable to develop 3D models as further tools for education.

The object of the study was to create and develop a virtual model of the dog’s heart wherewith help the students in understanding and learning its anatomy.

We removed the heart from a refrigerated dog cadaver (cross-breed, male, 36 kg body weight). Following a formalin based fixation process, the organ was casted with a two component synthetic resin. This specimen was examined with MRI using a 1 mm slice gap. The sequence was processed with 3D Slicer, where the organ was selected using the Threshold Effect, followed by a manual overview of every slice. The resulted model was exported into 3DS Max for further adjustments and the addition of the major vessels.

The final model is rotatable, and the user can create pictures or animations of that using any desired angle or virtual environment. The model is realistic in its proportions.

This model is available for the students to study why the process may be used for modelling further organs.