Adnan Sharmeen, Benson Amanda C, Xiao Junhua
Department of Biomedical, Health and Exercise Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.
Anat Sci Educ. 2025 May;18(5):496-525. doi: 10.1002/ase.70027. Epub 2025 Mar 28.
Virtual anatomy is being increasingly adopted in anatomy education. This systematic review evaluated the literature between January 2000 and August 2024 to understand how virtual reality (VR) in Anatomy Education is implemented in Health Sciences and Allied Health, focusing on learning outcomes and student perceptions. Following registration with the Open Science Framework and adhering to PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive search across nine databases identified fifteen eligible studies. The learning outcomes assessed included knowledge acquisition, retention, conceptual understanding, and learning confidence, alongside perceptions of VR as a learning tool, user experience, and satisfaction. Fifty percent (4/8) of the studies evaluating knowledge acquisition and retention reported statistically significant improvements following VR adoption. Enhanced conceptual understanding and learning confidence were consistently reported. All studies exploring perceptions highlighted positive views of VR, emphasizing its effectiveness as a learning tool. Additionally, user experience and satisfaction outcomes were uniformly favorable across all studies. Of the eight studies comparing alternative teaching methods, 75% (6/8) reported VR surpassed traditional teaching methods, including lectures, prosections, 2-dimensional (2D) models, 3-dimensional (3D) printing, cadavers, or advanced technologies such as augmented reality (AR). However, VR configurations, comparator modalities, and participant demographics were shown to influence learning effectiveness. Immersive VR dominated as the intervention of choice, while the role of VR controllers in anatomy education was underexplored. This review identifies the potential of VR in anatomy education while also pointing out areas needing further research, particularly the influence of VR hardware configurations and user interaction modalities on learning outcomes.
虚拟解剖在解剖学教育中的应用越来越广泛。本系统评价评估了2000年1月至2024年8月期间的文献，以了解健康科学和联合健康领域如何在解剖学教育中实施虚拟现实（VR），重点关注学习成果和学生的看法。在向开放科学框架注册并遵循PRISMA指南后，对九个数据库进行的全面检索确定了15项符合条件的研究。评估的学习成果包括知识获取、保留、概念理解和学习信心，以及对VR作为学习工具的看法、用户体验和满意度。在评估知识获取和保留的研究中，50%（4/8）报告称采用VR后有统计学上的显著改善。一致报告称概念理解和学习信心有所增强。所有探讨看法的研究都强调了对VR的积极看法，强调其作为学习工具的有效性。此外，所有研究中的用户体验和满意度结果都一致良好。在八项比较替代教学方法的研究中，75%（6/8）报告称VR超过了传统教学方法，包括讲座、解剖标本、二维（2D）模型、三维（3D）打印、尸体或增强现实（AR）等先进技术。然而，VR配置、比较模式和参与者人口统计学特征被证明会影响学习效果。沉浸式VR是首选的干预方式，而VR控制器在解剖学教育中的作用尚未得到充分探索。本综述确定了VR在解剖学教育中的潜力，同时也指出了需要进一步研究的领域，特别是VR硬件配置和用户交互模式对学习成果的影响。
