OP 3D
Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) are at risk of developing vertebral fractures due to steroid-induced osteoporosis. Although the concept of long bone fractures seems to be well understood by the general public, the morphology of vertebral fractures and development of osteoporosis is not.
The benefits of 3D models, and interactive applications in medical and anatomical education is well-documented, as well as the use of digital resources for patient education. However, there is a lack of a combination of the three, and importantly, there appears to be no 3D resources regarding vertebral fractures.
Therefore, I developed OP 3D, an interactive, web-based application aimed at the parents/carers of children with DMD, with the aim of increasing awareness of key aspects of the conditions.
Model vertebrae were created through segmentation of online example datasets from 3D slicer and bone density models were created from scratch using inspiration images in Z-Brush. The models were refined in 3DS Max/Z-Brush to simplify, texture, and animate the models. The application was developed in Unity to collate the UI elements, 2D, and 3D animations and develop interactions between the user and 3D models.
OP3D was uploaded to itch.io for user testing and was advertised on DMD patient organisation groups. A pre- and post-application awareness questionnaire was developed to assess how use of the application affected participants awareness of key aspects of the conditions. In addition, the standardised System Usability Scale questionnaire was utilised to determine the usability of the application as a whole.
Thank you to Dr Matthieu Poyade, Dr Jarod Wong & Ibrahim Buksh for all their help with this project.
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