Pilot Project: Delivering Ultra‐low Cost Digitally Guided Dissection
Authors: Frasch Tripp , Korndorffer Melanie L. 
Published: November 2023

Objective

The objective of this pilot is to explore the feasibility of deploying an ultra‐low cost digitally guided dissection experience to individual dissection tables in one of our Gross Anatomy labs and to study the scalability of our approach. Currently all students are required to purchase a copy of Grant's Dissector at approximately $65 to guide their dissections. This is problematic as the text quickly becomes contaminated from handling while dissecting and the content is static and fixed. We seek to determine if digital touchscreen tablet‐based technology can be successfully deployed to deliver content in a useful and rapidly updateable manner at each dissection table without permanent and highly costly modifications to the laboratory infrastructure and dissection table hardware.

Methods

The Gross Anatomy course at Tulane University School of Medicine is a 185‐contact hour course organized into four blocks encompassing lecture, cadaveric dissection, PBL, and Simulation Center sessions across 11 weeks at the beginning of the first year of Medical School. There are 213 students enrolled; 175 are first year students (the remainder in graduate or Certification programs) arranged into seven laboratories for cadaveric dissection sessions. In one of our seven Gross Anatomy laboratories with six dissection tables and six students per table (n=36), we deployed to each dissection table a TG‐TEK 16GB 10.1″ Touchscreen Dual Camera WiFi Quad Core Android 5.1 Tablet ($49.98 each) and Gooseneck Universal Mount, Aduro SOLID GRIP 360 Rotating Flexible Hands‐Free Viewing Stand as a mounting arm ($14.99 each). We met the total target cost per table that was aligned with the approximate cost of a new print copy of Grant's Dissector – about $65.00. The tablets were attached to the mounting arms and the mounting arms clamped to available overhead supports. The tablets were connected to the University's wireless network to allow access to web based resources. The primary resource accessed on these tablets was faculty‐student collaborative project that is writing a regions‐based, web delivered dissector. The pilot ran during the first and second blocks of the Gross Anatomy course for three weeks during three four‐hour long dissection lab sessions.

Results

The benefits of these tablets were (1) the ability to rapidly update the content files on the server and, therefore, instantly update the dissector content (2) bring multimedia enriched content to the dissection table, and (3) deploy this solution at a pricepoint where the hardware could be readily replaced on an as needed basis. Challenges encountered were related to tradeoffs associated with the quality of tablets and mounting hardware that are currently available for $65 per dissection table: (1) poor stability of the tablets and their mounts, (2) sub‐optimal viewing from the low‐quality screens on the tablets. Additionally, the tablets required frequent cleaning after handling by students while dissecting.

Conclusions

The solution described above lacks the durability to survive several years continued use. At a pricepoint near to this however, the hardware could be considered “disposable” and replaced as needed. Developing a much more robust mounting system that still allowed the students to reposition the tablet as needed is required. The ability to rapidly deploy new content, as is the case with a web delivered solution, is very useful.