Development of a Cross-Sectional Anatomy Website with Zoom Capabilities, Correlative Clinical Information, and Two-Dimensional Imagery

The intention of this thesis is to document and describe the development of a cross-sectional anatomy website with zoom capabilities, correlative clinical information, and two-dimensional imagery. The cross-sectional anatomy website was created to help first year medical students transfer the spatial relations of surface morphology and human organ systems information to the reading of two-dimensional cross-sectional images, primarily those images generated from computer tomography (CT). The website was posted online by the author for evaluation by the MS1 students at UT Southwestern. The website is a prototype that focuses on the thorax using eight images from the Visible Human Project(r) dataset. The website's interface allows the user to explore each cross section, taking advantage of the labeling overlays, zoom capabilities, information tables, and correlated diagnostic images. The website contains a search feature, allowing users to perform searches for specific anatomical structures and view all images that correlate to the user's search criteria. This thesis explores the need for a comprehensive cross-sectional image website, discusses current cross-sectional image resources available to first year medical students, and documents the research, creative process, and development of the website.