JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Anatomy has been the cornerstone of medical education for centuries. However, given advances in the Internet of Things, this landscape has been augmented in the past decade, shifting towards a greater focus on adopting digital technologies. Indeed, digital Anatomy is emerging as a new discipline and represents an opportunity to embrace advances in digital health technologies and apply them to the domain of modern medical sciences. This is not only a result of a multidisciplinary exercise but an active response to the change of medical education landscape and the rapid development of medical technology. Notably, the use of augmented and virtual reality as well as mobile and platforms and 3D printing in modern anatomy has dramatically increased in the last 5 years. It has not only revolutionized undergraduate anatomy education but is shifting the paradigm of pre- and vocational training for medical professionals, advancing healthcare. This review outlines the emerging area of digital anatomy and summarises recent practice-changing studies in medical science education and research. Importantly, we present a SWOT analysis of the opportunities and challenges for incorporating digital anatomy, discussing both the strength and weakness and the underlying threats and opportunities for educators, researchers, and the new generation of health professionals. In so doing this review will serve to identify an important role for digital anatomy to play in both the learning and teaching of medicine and health sciences as well as its practice, prompting new questions for future investigations.