Evaluating Neuroanatomy Teaching Methods in India: A Comparison of Novel Stereoscopic/Non-Stereoscopic 3D Model Projections and Conventional Board Drawings

Doris George Yohannan¹, Aswathy Maria Oommen¹, Kesavadas Chandrasekharan², Bejoy Thomas², Jayadevan Enakshy Rajan², Pawan Harish³, Jayanthi Sivaswamy⁴

¹Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram (GMCT), Thiruvananthapuram, India; ²Department of Imaging Sciences and Interventional Radiology, Sree Chithra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India; ³Muni Animation, New Delhi, India; ⁴Centre for Visual Information Technology (CVIT), International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, India

Objectives: Neuroanatomy teaching includes mastering nomenclature, analysing spatial relations and applying that knowledge in clinical situations. The authors had collaboratively developed an MRI-based stereoscopically visualizable novel 3-dimensional teaching tool (AnaVu) suitable for low-resource settings. The educational validity of this new approach needed to be compared with the existing methods to weigh the merits and feasibility in Indian medical education context.
Methods: A three-limb randomized trial was conducted among first year medical students (n=152) of GMCT after obtaining informed consent. After an introductory lecture on the brainstem and a dissection session, the students were randomized to three groups – Stereo (S), Mono (M) and Control (C). S attended a stereoscopic demonstration of the brainstem lesson in the AnaVu; M was taught using AnaVu, projected non stereoscopically, while C was taught using diagrams drawn on a whiteboard. Pre-test and post-test examinations were conducted before and after. The students’ perceived cognitive loads were measured using pre- validated questionnaire and open comments were surveyed.
Results: The post-test/pre-test difference was statistically significant for S group compared to C group in basic recall examinations [ANOVA; p = 0.001; Bonferroni corrections applied] and radiology-based examinations [ANOVA; p < 0.001; Bonferroni corrections applied]. The perceived cognitive loads showed improved germane load for S group compared to C group [p = 0.001]. The comments indicated general appreciation, mentioning critical viewpoints.
Conclusion: The results indicate the potential value of a stereoscopic visualization technique for anatomy teaching in low resource settings.

Keywords: anatomy education; low- and middle-income countries; stereoscopic visualization; technology-enhanced learning

Ethical statement: The Human Ethics Committee of Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram provided a letter, dated 02.07.2019, that the study protocol is exempted from review as per ICMR 2017 guidelines as it was a study involving the testing of educational techniques in medical students. All the experiments were performed with the understanding and consent of the students.

Funding statement: The project was funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board (Grant No. IR/SB/EF/03/2016), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.