Objective:

The objective of this project is to create videos of the neurological examination using commercially available 3D animation tools. An innovative process was tried in order to facilitate changing aspects of the videos, allowing the user to adjust the appearance, age, or gender of the animated characters and streamline the animation process.

Background:

Digital tools have become more common in medical education, enhancing different fields due to their unique presentational benefits. The cornerstone of clinical neurology is the neurological examination, which can be used to determine the patient’s neurological function. While past 3D animation software (Poser) sufficiently exhibits the neurological examination, videos would need to be coded again when using a different character. Using Daz3D software, there was a possibility to transfer the movement data from one character to another more efficiently.

Design/Methods:

Using Poser and purchased digital resources, the authors created multiple vignettes depicting different characters undergoing a neurological exam by a neurologist in a clinical room. Each character had a unique physical appearance and exam findings and were built separately. Using Daz3D software, the neurological exam was coded again to be performed on a female character. The movements and positions were then copied to a different figure with different physical characteristics (“morphs”).

Results:

The innovative copy of movements was successfully done with the movements copied and pasted onto a different character of different size and appearance. The copied movements were appropriate for the new character and rendered.

Conclusions:

This project should streamline the process of creating animations of the neurological exam for various educational purposes. Portions of the exam can be independently changed and be used for a variety of characters.  The potential use of the videos are extensive. The list includes but is not limited to problem-based learning cases, clinical skills assessments, and lectures.