Kings Synthetic Anatomy course development blog

Les taught our students how to use their sketchbooks with a sense of freedom - I could not have taken part because I would not have been able to cut-up my sketchbook! Les will have to take it easier on me. Our students produced an excellent series of 3D aorta prints. It was very hard for me to give out just one prize so we ended up with 6 prizes (and me out of pocket for a lot more than I had anticipated). Our fourth 3D printer arrived and it is a special one that can print 2 filaments. The printer got both Yohan and Shuangyi excited (something that I have seen before) and also somewhat challenged (now that I don't see too often).

During the Week 2 session the students learnt how to segment a high-contrast dataset and to print the resulting model at mini scale. We were using anonymised real patient data from Guy's hospital taken from MRI scans of children with congenital heart disease and coarctation of the aorta. The resulting 3D models were beautiful. We also learnt about creating objects using the FreeCAD software.

virtual heart surgery a first for me - working through new software is a learning curve and navigating through the body digitally is exciting but actual knowledge of anatomy is useful so that one doesn't get lost. The room we are working in is full of plastic models that are beyond odd.

Diary  /ˈdʌɪəri/  A book in which one keeps a daily record of events and experiences I used to keep a teaching diary - particularly with new modules and teaching - something to refer to the following year. Seems more appropriate to use blogspace this year. AM We started Day 1 with a fairly conventional powerpoint presentation - always a turn off and I think something that could be replaced with an interactive exercise next year. We managed to use the colour of the collaboration tables to organise the students effectively. As an experienced teacher, it immediately presented an unusual classroom in the number of tutors and technicians present. This made it feel unusual, special. Artists introduced themselves - maybe we should all introduce ourselves (students included) next year? For bridge building, we used the coloured collaboration tables to direct students into groups. The preallocated groups managed to absorb newcomers and cope with absentees so that each group was a mix o