Anatomical Design: Making and Using Three-dimensional Models of the Human Body

This chapter explores three-dimensional models of anatomy, focusing on processes of design, making, and use in contemporary contexts where models are mobilized to generate and communicate anatomical knowledge. It analyzes designs as necessarily interrelated material and mental constructs and designing as a social process. The chapter considers the dynamics of anatomical design in relation to the dialogic interaction that successful communication in learning necessitates. Models can be particularly useful, teachers at the University of Aberdeen’s Anatomy Facility point out, for helping students to visualize aspects of the human body difficult to see in dissections and prosections—especially fine structures such as nerves, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels. In 2010, the senior anatomy lecturer referred to designing as a matter of making certain kinds of decisions—deciding which materials for modeling best represent which anatomical parts, as in the choice of wire for nerves, for instance.