The Benefits of an Augmented Reality Magic Mirror System for Integrated Radiology Teaching in Gross Anatomy

TLDR

Early exposure to radiological cross‑section images in introductory anatomy courses improves students’ understanding of anatomy and radiology, and augmented reality offers interactive, hands‑on advantages that place the student at the center of learning. The study compares the benefits of an AR Magic Mirror system to the Anatomage virtual dissection table for integrated anatomy and radiology teaching in a two‑semester gross anatomy course and a follow‑up elective. Students used both systems during tutorial sessions with lecture accompaniment and survey feedback, while elective participants were randomly assigned to self‑directed learning groups using either Anatomage, Magic Mirror, or traditional atlases. Pre‑ and post‑test results showed significant score gains for the Magic Mirror and atlas groups but not for Anatomage, and low mental‑rotation‑test students benefited most from the Magic Mirror and Anatomage, indicating that the Magic Mirror achieves learning outcomes comparable to established anatomy tools.

Abstract

Early exposure to radiological cross‐section images during introductory anatomy and dissection courses increases students’ understanding of both anatomy and radiology. Novel technologies such as augmented reality (AR) offer unique advantages for an interactive and hands‐on integration with the student at the center of the learning experience. In this article, the benefits of a previously proposed AR Magic Mirror system are compared to the Anatomage, a virtual dissection table as a system for combined anatomy and radiology teaching during a two‐semester gross anatomy course with 749 first‐year medical students, as well as a follow‐up elective course with 72 students. During the former, students worked with both systems in dedicated tutorial sessions which accompanied the anatomy lectures and provided survey‐based feedback. In the elective course, participants were assigned to three groups and underwent a self‐directed learning session using either Anatomage, Magic Mirror, or traditional radiology atlases. A pre‐ and posttest design with multiple choice questions revealed significant improvements in test scores between the two tests for both the Magic Mirror and the group using radiology atlases, while no significant differences in test scores were recorded for the Anatomage group. Furthermore, especially students with low mental rotation test (MRT) scores benefited from the Magic Mirror and Anatomage and achieved significantly higher posttest scores compared to students with a low MRT score in the theory group. Overall, the results provide supporting evidence that the Magic Mirror system achieves comparable results in terms of learning outcome to established anatomy learning tools such as Anatomage and radiology atlases.