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Application of a 3D-printed eye model for teaching direct ophthalmoscopy to undergraduates

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to design an eye model that can simulate the fundus for teaching direct ophthalmoscopy and to evaluate its effectiveness.

Methods

We first used 3D printing materials to make an eye model and then randomly assigned 92 undergraduates into group A (model-assisted training group) and group B (traditional training group) to test our model. After the same training time, real patients were used to test the students, with 120 s as the examination time limit. We recorded the students’ ability to clearly see the optic disk, the time to determine the cup-to-disk ratio, and whether they were correct.

Results

Forty-three students in group A (93.48%) successfully saw the fundus, while 21 in group B (45.65%) succeeded. The difference between the two groups was 47.83% (95% confidence interval, 29.59–66.07%, P < 0.0001). The median time to see the fundus was 29s (95% confidence interval 23–45 s) in group A, while an estimated minimum time in group B was 80 s, indicating that group A was significantly faster than group B (P < 0.0001).

Conclusions

This 3D-printed eye model significantly improved the students’ study interest, study efficiency, and study results and is worthy of being promoted.

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Availability of data and material

All data are available upon request from the corresponding author

Code availability

Not applicable

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the support from Professor Chunhua Hu and Mr. Xuzhen Du in the Department of Aerospace Engineering of Tsinghua University for providing 3D materials and guiding the establishment of the eye model.

Funding

1. Young Medical Education Scholar Program of Peking Union Medical College (2017zlgc0704)

2. Undergraduate Education Reform Program of Peking Union Medical College (2017zlgc0123)

3. The Non-profit Central Research Institute Fund of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2018PT32029)

Author information

Author notes

  1. Chan Wu and Mingyue Luo contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

    Chan Wu, Mingyue Luo, Yutong Liu, Rongping Dai, Meifen Zhang, Yong Zhong & Youxin Chen

  2. Key Lab of Ocular Fundus Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

    Chan Wu, Mingyue Luo, Yutong Liu, Rongping Dai, Meifen Zhang, Yong Zhong & Youxin Chen

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  1. Chan Wu
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  2. Mingyue Luo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Youxin Chen.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

Waived by the Peking Union Medical College Hospital Review Board because of the non-clinical nature of the study. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Wu, C., Luo, M., Liu, Y. et al. Application of a 3D-printed eye model for teaching direct ophthalmoscopy to undergraduates. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 260, 2361–2368 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-021-05538-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-021-05538-w

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