Visualization of Cardiac Anatomy: New Approaches for Medical Education
Rachel Marie Whitman, David Dufeau · The FASEB Journal · 2017
3D Visualization is becoming an increasingly utilized tool in medical education and patient interaction. It is used for training, diagnosis, intervention design, and patient education. Many physicians and medical students can envision an anatomically correct heart, in addition to the anatomical conformation of congenital heart defects. The ability to medical students and medical professionals to visualize these structures can be greatly improved by augmenting diagnostic imaging modalities ( e.g. CT and MRI) with 3D renderings assembled from these data. We present here methods for the recovery of 3D structures and anatomical associations from CT Data. These data, acquired from the St. Vincent Indianapolis Cardiology/Radiology department and the National Institute of Health Cancer Imaging Archive, were analyzed using the 3D analytical software FEI Amira at the Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine 3D Visualization Laboratory. Relevant anatomical structures, landmarks, and anomalies were assembled to create 3D prints, interactive digital models, and YouTube videos. We assembled models from two date sets: one of an anatomically correct heart, and the other of a heart after corrective surgery for the Tetralogy of Fallot congenital anomalies. Both projects have been replicated via 3D printing, and both have an associated YouTube video that enables the clinicians, students, and patients to view the structures in three‐dimension. Developing 3D Visualization techniques gives us the capability to create more accurate, interactive, and detailed images of cardiac anatomy. Our 3D Visualizations show great potential in advancing medical education and in improving communication and interactions between patients and physicians.