Dorcas Hager Padget: artist and embryologist

Virtual, 3-Dimensional Temporal Bone Model and Its Educational Value for Neurosurgical Trainees

OBJECTIVE

Learning complex neuroanatomy is an arduous yet important task for every neurosurgical trainee. As technology has advanced, various modalities have been created to aid our understanding of anatomy. This study sought to assess the educational value of a virtual, 3-dimensional (3D) temporal bone model.

METHODS

The 3D temporal bone model was created with assistance of computer graphic designers and published online. Its educational value as a teaching was tool was assessed by querying 73 neurosurgery residents at 4 institutions and was compared with that of a standard, 2-dimensional (2D) temporal bone resource. Data were collected via a survey, and significance among responses was analyzed via a univariate chi-square test.

RESULTS

The survey response rate was 37%. Greater than 90% of residents preferred to study with the 3D model compared with the 2D resource and felt that the 3D model allowed them understand the anatomy more realistically (P = 0.001). Moreover, >90% of residents believed that reviewing the 3D model before an actual surgery could lead to improved operative efficiency and safety (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates the utility of a novel, 3D temporal bone model as a teaching tool for neurosurgery residents. The model contains accurate anatomic structures and allows user interaction via a virtual, immersive environment.

Dorcas Hager Padget: neuroembryologist and neurosurgical illustrator trained at Johns Hopkins

✓ Dorcas Hager Padget was a pioneer in the fields of neurosurgical illustration and neuroembryology who practiced during the early 20th century at The Johns Hopkins University. Without a college degree, she trained as a medical illustrator in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's Department of Art as Applied to Medicine under Max Brödel. She began her career working for Walter Dandy as his medical artist, gaining worldwide recognition for her neurosurgical illustrations. With Dandy's encouragement, Hager Padget undertook her own scientific research, studying neurodevelopment and aneurysm formation in the circle of Willis by using human embryos from the world-renowned Carnegie Collection. She made lasting contributions to the field of neuroembryology, publishing the first major work on neurodevelopment of the cerebral arterial and venous systems. Following Dandy's death in 1946, Hager Padget began a full-time career as a scientific researcher, first at the Department of Embryology at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Baltimore and later at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She continued to make contributions to the field of congenital malformations of the brain and spine, coining the term “neuroschisis” to describe a possible mechanism of neural tube damage leading to the creation of a myelomeningocele. The authors describe Dorcas Hager Padget's contributions to neurosurgical illustration and neuroembryology, as well as her remarkable career.