SESAM Annual Meeting Workshop
Friday afternoon at the SESAM Annual Meeting was marked by 3D printing. The workshop "3D printing of anatomical models - methods from the collaborative Erasmus+ project ACCEDE (Anatomically aCCuratE 3D modEls)" was held from 13:15 in room D6. The workshop aimed to introduce the participants to 3 key parts of producing anatomically accurate models in a practical way. And although the title did not explicitly state it, with colleagues from Slovakia and Germany, we prepared a very practical hands-on workshop.
In the beginning of the workshop, the motivation for the use of 3D printing and siliconization in medical education, the Erasmus+ project, the project partners were presented. Second part of the short presentation was dedicated to the methodology of 3D model production, summarized in the so-called pipeline. Each step in the pipeline was explained in simple terms and the emphasis was kept on explaining the need for validation and verification of the results (model) before describing them as accurate and using them in teaching.
Participants, whose number exceeded the maximum capacity of 30, were then divided into 3 groups. Each group occupied a station for segmentation, then scanning and the last station was a demonstration of siliconization. The groups had approximately twenty-five minutes for each station, which was always led by one team. The segmentation presentation was given by the Slovak team, the scanning demonstration by the Czech team and the silicone casting demonstration was successfully presented by colleagues from Germany.
All stages presented their method on a very simple anatomical model - tibia. Due to the matching, it was then possible to discuss, for example, the different results from CT segmentation and from scanning. Smaller tibia of a newborn baby was then used for the silicone casting, mainly to save time.
According to the feedback of the participants, we consider the workshop to be very successful. The participants included people from clinical disciplines and technicians in approximately equal numbers. For some, the techniques demonstrated were eye-opening; for others, the opportunity to share their own knowledge and network their skills with ours was an advantage. The introduction of the PrintAnatomy! portal was an important part of whole workshop.
