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. 2025 Jun 9;11(1):25.
doi: 10.1186/s41205-025-00272-z.

Contribution of 3D visualization and printing in teaching lung segments anatomy

Gabrielle Drevet  1 , Valentin Soldea  2 , Sylvain Gouttard  3 , Melia Virely  3 , Jean-Michel Maury  2   4 , François Tronc  2
Affiliations

Contribution of 3D visualization and printing in teaching lung segments anatomy

Gabrielle Drevet et al. 3D Print Med. .

Abstract

Background: The knowledge and understanding of the anatomy of lung segments is of great importance while segmentectomies are increasingly performed. To introduce new technologies and tools in anatomy teaching could help students to improve their skills.

Methods: Students participants (n = 16) were divided into 3 groups: traditional (n = 5), 3D visualization (n = 5) and 3D printing group (n = 6). Each student took a pre- and post-test exam. The traditional teaching group had lessons using 2D anatomical drawings, the 3D visualization group had lessons using a dedicated software allowing anatomical 3D reconstructions and the 3D printing group had lessons using 3D printed anatomical models.

Results: Students of the whole cohort had significant better scores at the post test (mean score = 14.2) compared to the pretest (mean score = 7.9) (p = 0.0011). In the traditional and 3D printing groups, students had significant better scores in the post-test (mean scores = 17.7 and 14.2 respectively) than in the pre-test (mean scores = 8.2 and 7.5; p = 0.0247 and p = 0.0003 respectively). There was no significant difference between the pre and post-test scores for the 3D visualization group (mean score = 8.2 and 11.7 respectively) (p = 0.4347).

Conclusions: The knowledge of lung segment anatomy is poor among our medical students. Both traditional and 3D-printed teaching was shown effective. The contribution of 3D printed models would probably improve anatomy teaching among medical students. The introduction of this technology is instinctive and easy to use for both students and teachers. Furthermore, this technique was not particularly expensive to set up.

Keywords: 3D printing; 3D visualization; Anatomical education; Lung segments.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the ethics committee of the French Society of Thoracic and CardioVascular Surgery (SFCTCV), (IRB00012919), and it was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All students signed an informed consent form before participating in the study. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Example of 3D modelling of the right bronchial and vascular tree, without the lung parenchyma. Thanks to the Visible Patient™ laboratory (Strasbourg, France). The bronchial tree is in white, the arterial tree is in blue and the venous tree is in red
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Photographs of 3D printing models of the right (A) and left (B) bronchial and vascular tree, without the lung parenchyma, using the Hospices Civils de Lyon 3D printing platform: CO’Lab 3D. The bronchial tree is in yellow, the arterial tree in red and the venous tree in blue
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
(A) Comparison of pre-tests scores. (B) Comparison of post-tests scores
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Comparison of pre- and post-test scores. (A) Comparison within the whole cohort of students. (B) Comparison of students in the TRAD group. (C) Comparison of students in the VIS3D group. (D) Comparison of students in the PRINT3D group. *p < 0.05. **p < 0.005. ***p < 0.0005. The statistical test used was the one way test - ANOVA. The data were exported to GraphPad Prism Version 7.01 for Windows
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