Going virtual with quicktime VR: new methods and standardized tools for interactive dynamic visualization of anatomical structures.
(17/1147)
Continuing evolution of computer-based multimedia technologies has produced QuickTime, a multiplatform digital media standard that is supported by stand-alone commercial programs and World Wide Web browsers. While its core functions might be most commonly employed for production and delivery of conventional video programs (e.g., lecture videos), additional QuickTime VR "virtual reality" features can be used to produce photorealistic, interactive "non-linear movies" of anatomical structures ranging in size from microscopic through gross anatomic. But what is really included in QuickTime VR and how can it be easily used to produce novel and innovative visualizations for education and research? This tutorial introduces the QuickTime multimedia environment, its QuickTime VR extensions, basic linear and non-linear digital video technologies, image acquisition, and other specialized QuickTime VR production methods. Four separate practical applications are presented for light and electron microscopy, dissectable preserved specimens, and explorable functional anatomy in magnetic resonance cinegrams. (+info)
Web-delivery of anatomy video clips using a CD-ROM.
(18/1147)
Until recently, anatomists had no doubt that the teaching of anatomy had to include cadaver dissection. However, due to a changing academic environment as well as challenged financial institutional resources, computer-assisted instruction was introduced into medical curriculum in an attempt to reduce the cost and the time committed to cadaver dissection. Computer-assisted instruction included locally created or commercially available anatomy software, Internet sites, and databases of digital images of cadaveric structures such as the Virtual Human Project. However, until now, bandwidth limitations have not allowed effective visualization in real-time over the Internet of recorded videos or 3D animations reconstructed from a database. We describe how to successfully link and display large video clips stored on a CD-ROM in support of lectures saved in HTML format on the Internet. This process, described in its totality, allows students to access audiovisual files on a CD-ROM through the Internet, from any location, with either Macintosh or Windows computers, using the Netscape browser. This process allowed us to circumvent one of the most significant limitations of the computer-assisted instruction on the Internet by delivering full audio and visual information on demand, as it would happen in a traditional classroom. (+info)
Animated PowerPoint as a tool to teach anatomy.
(19/1147)
Anatomy is a visual science. For centuries, anatomic information has been conveyed through drawings that have been presented to students through every available medium. The projection of animated images from a computer is a medium that offers great promise in effecting improved communication of anatomic information. Using Microsoft PowerPoint software, we have developed animated presentations for all of our lectures in Gross and Developmental Anatomy. As a starting point, we scan pen-and-ink drawings to create a digital image. The image may be edited and manipulated in an image processing program. Next, the image is imported into a PowerPoint slide where it is labeled and otherwise enhanced (arteries overlaid with red color, veins in blue, etc.) and the enhancements are animated, as we describe here step by step. For the lecture, the file is loaded on a server that is accessible through a network from a computer in the lecture hall. The output is directed to a video projector and the PowerPoint presentation is projected in the "Slide Show" mode. We use a wireless mouse that allows us to control the presentation from anywhere in the room. Before the lecture, students are provided with the same unlabeled drawings as handouts, and during the lecture the students are actively engaged in labeling the drawings and making related notes. After the lecture, the file is saved in HTML format and posted on our course web site where students can access the slides. Evaluation by the students at the end of the course demonstrated that this style of presentation was very favorably received. (+info)
Use of a computer-assisted clinical case (CACC) SOAP note exercise to assess students' application of osteopathic principles and practice.
(20/1147)
Osteopathic medical students are future osteopathic physicians, and how they view the manipulative aspect of patient care will have an effect on the distinctiveness of osteopathic medicine. To encourage students' application of osteopathic principles and practice, a Web-based computer-assisted clinical case (CACC) was designed, for which students were required to submit a SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan) note. Results from the CACC-SOAP note exercise indicate that the experience engages medical students and can determine the students' abilities to recognize osteopathic principles in patient care. (+info)
Getting nutrition education into medical schools: a computer-based approach.
(21/1147)
Despite awareness of the importance of nutrition as part of medical student's education, numerous barriers exist to incorporating nutrition education into the medical school curriculum. Chief among such barriers is that most medical schools do not have faculty trained specifically in nutrition. A curriculum is needed that can deliver comprehensive nutrition information that is consistent across medical schools. One way to deliver this information is to use computer-assisted instruction (CAI). To meet the different needs of medical schools and provide a consistent base of nutrition information, we developed a series of interactive, multimedia educational programs (Nutrition in Medicine) that teach the basic principles of nutritional science and apply those principles in a case-oriented approach. Curriculum content is derived from the American Society for Clinical Nutrition consensus guidelines. These modules offer the advantages of accessibility, self-paced study, interactivity, immediate feedback, and tracking of student performance. Modules are distributed free to all US medical schools. Preliminary data from surveys gathered by our team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicate that 73 US medical schools use, or are planning to use, these modules; more schools are currently evaluating the programs. Successful implementation of CAI requires easy program access, faculty training, adequate technical support, and faculty commitment to the programs as a valuable resource. CAI fails when the program is just placed in the library and students are told to use it when they can find the time. (+info)
Design and analysis of a Web-based guideline tutorial system that emphasizes clinical trial evidence.
(22/1147)
OBJECTIVE: To describe a Web-based guideline tutorial system and evaluate its features. METHODS: A Web-based tutorial system called SAGE (Self-study Acceleration with Graphic Evidence) was constructed to teach knowledge important for care after myocardial infarction. SAGE features a pretest, followed by an overview that coordinates studying resources for a set of learning objectives. Resources include pretest answers, guideline passages, and graphical presentations of clinical trial results. Data on the use of SAGE was obtained from 79 residents participating in a larger trial. Linear regression was used to correlate the amount learned with resource-use, and resource-use with user characteristics. RESULTS: On average, users accessed less than half of the guideline passages and very little of the graphic evidence. Greater use of guideline passages was correlated with greater immediate learning, but use of graphic evidence was not. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is needed to motivate more thorough self-study and to integrate clinical trial evidence with guideline-based education. (+info)
A facet-based system for computer-assisted instruction in pain management for elderly patients.
(23/1147)
DIANA2, a web-based interactive tutor for pain management (see www.talariainc.com), was more effective than conventional methods of learning (such as reading articles that contain the same type of information) in making the principles of pain management for the elderly more easily accessible to learners. DIANA2 was similarly effective for different types of health care providers (students, nurses, and residents), and the study participants were excited by their experience with a different mode of learning. DIANA is based on interactive facet-based learning principles that guide learners to reflect on their understanding of the situation and to modify and augment their understanding in response to real-time facet-specific feedback. (+info)
WebDietAID: an interactive Web-based nutritional counselor.
(24/1147)
WebDietAID is a Web-based system aimed at assisting individuals affected by high serum cholesterol. The system tries to reproduce the types of intervention performed by a nutritional counselor. It is structured as a set of advisors, each of which handles a different side of the counseling process. The tasks of the advisors range from monitoring weight, to teaching about healthy nutrition, to assessing motivation and psychological obstacles to behavior change. WebDietAID is based on a development environment for Web-based applications that includes a dynamical Web server, a knowledge base management system, and an interface to a relational database. We describe the architecture of the system, and several of the implemented advisors. Finally, we discuss how the architecture could be generalized to other counseling domains. (+info)