A practical description and student perspective of the integration of radiology into lower limb musculoskeletal anatomy

BACKGROUND

Anatomy educators are increasing their utilisation of radiology in anatomy education in line with growing requirements for undergraduate radiology competency and clinical need.

AIMS

We aimed to evaluate student perceptions of radiology and to outline the technical and academic considerations underlying the integration of radiology into musculoskeletal practical anatomy sessions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The formal integration of radiology into anatomy practical sessions took place over a 5-week period during the lower limb musculoskeletal component of the anatomy course taught to first-year medical students. During practical sessions, students were required to rotate between aligned audio-visual radiology presentations, osteology/anatomical models, and prosection/dissection learning stations. After completing the course, students were invited to complete a survey to establish their opinions on radiology as a mode of learning and their satisfaction with radiological integration in anatomical practical sessions.

RESULTS

Most students were not familiar with radiology prior to attending our university. All our students agreed or strongly agreed that learning to read radiographs in anatomy is important and most agreed that radiology is a valid assessment tool. Sixty percent stated that radiology facilitated their understanding of anatomy. The majority believed that radiology was best suited to clinically relevant anatomy and X-rays were their preferred learning tool.

CONCLUSIONS

The practical approach to integrating radiology into undergraduate musculoskeletal anatomy described here did not place strain on existing academic resources. Most students agreed that radiology should be increased in anatomy education and that learning to understand radiographs in anatomy was important for clinical practice.

Photocurrent near-field microscopy of Schottky barriers

We used a combination of internal photoemission and of near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) to study the lateral variations in solid interface properties such as energy barriers and electron-hole recombination. In particular we investigated the fully formed Pt-GaP, Au-GaAs, Au-SiNx-GaAs and PtSi-Si Schottky barriers. Our approach enabled us to measure large lateral variations in the photocurrent with spatial resolution on the nanometric scale. Due to the ability of SNOM to supply parallel topographic information, we observed photocurrent variations from zone to zone that only correlated in a few cases with local variations in surface morphology. We assigned the uncorrelated fluctuations to local variations in the interface stoichiometry, the presence of interface states induced by the metallic overlayer and to defect states at the junction. Furthermore, by tuning the photon energy and applied bias we were able to measure the surface distribution of the diffusion length.

Dopaminergic Modulation of Glutamate Release in Striatum as Measured by Microdialysis

Glutamate and aspartate are the primary neurotransmitters of projections from motor and premotor cortices to the striatum. Release of glutamate may be modulated by dopamine receptors located on corticostriatal terminals. The present study used microdialysis to investigate the dopaminergic modulation of in vivo striatal glutamate and aspartate release in the striatum of awake-behaving rats. Local perfusion with a depolarizing concentration of K+ through a dialysis probe into the rat striatum produced a significant increase in the release of glutamate, aspartate, and taurine. The D2 agonist LY171555 blocked the K(+)-induced release of glutamate and aspartate, but not taurine, in a concentration-dependent manner. The D1 agonist SKF 38393 did not alter K(+)-induced release of glutamate and taurine, but did significantly decrease aspartate release. Neither agonist had any effect on basal amino acid release. The D2 antagonist (-)-sulpiride reversed the inhibitory effects of LY 171555 on K(+)-induced glutamate release. These results provide in vivo evidence for a functional interaction between dopamine, the D2 receptor, and striatal glutamate release.