2023 ARRS ANNUAL MEETING - ABSTRACTS

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E1565. Getting a Feel for Meniscal Tears: Using Modeling Clay to Help Teach Radiology Residents Meniscal Tear Types
Authors
  1. Jeremiah Long; Mayo Clinic Arizona
  2. Andrew Sill; Mayo Clinic Arizona
  3. Roman Shrestha; Mayo Clinic Arizona
  4. Erik Verhey; Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
  5. Matthew Flick; Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
  6. Jonathan Flug; Mayo Clinic Arizona
  7. James Stensby; University of Missouri
Background
Radiologists in practice rely upon envisioning three-dimensional (3D) anatomy from two-dimensional (2D) diagnostic images. During radiology training, educators can help facilitate growth of this skill set in residents by utilizing different visual models and techniques. This educational exhibit will showcase a unique application of hands-on learning utilizing modeling clay to teach radiology residents the morphology of different knee meniscal tears. Understanding and properly describing meniscal tears is important for radiologists, as this information can aide orthopedic surgeons determine clinical management plans.

Educational Goals / Teaching Points
After participating in this educational exhibit, the learner will be able to create a hands-on resident training session utilizing modeling clay to learn about different meniscal tear morphologies.

Key Anatomic/Physiologic Issues and Imaging Findings/Techniques
This exhibit will explain the specific steps needed to create the training session. Didactic material preparation – slides are created with a brief overview of normal meniscal anatomy and MRI appearances. The fundamental principles of meniscal tear detection with MRI are presented. Case examples of horizontal, longitudinal, radial, and complex meniscal tears with corresponding arthroscopy are included. Pre-presentation survey – sent out the week prior to the session to gauge the learner’s familiarity with meniscal tear morphologies. Background reading – an article reviewing different meniscal tear morphologies is selected and sent to the trainees the week prior to the session. Materials preparation – four containers of suitable modeling clay are obtained and brought to the session. Team formation – the learning group is divided into four teams at the start of the session. Didactic presentation—description of normal meniscal anatomy and MRI appearances, along with the fundamental principles of meniscal tear detection. Team activity – each group is assigned a tear morphology and modeling clay to collaboratively create a three-dimensional representation of the meniscal tear. Presentation of models – after an allotted amount of time, each group presents their tear type and model to the group. After each tear type is presented, the corresponding illustrative MRI and arthroscopy cases are shown to solidify the knowledge gain. Post-presentation survey – sent out one day after the presentation to gauge the learner’s familiarity with meniscal tear morphologies. Representative cases, survey format and results, background reading recommendations, and activity photographs from real presentations using this format will be shared.

Conclusion
An important component of radiology residency training is developing the ability to conceptualize 3D anatomic structures from 2D images. In this exhibit, we present the application of modeling clay to help teach radiology residents about different meniscal tears in the knee--translating a hands-on model into a specific MRI appearance.