An investigation to examine the most appropriate methodology to capture historical and modern preserved anatomical specimens for use in the digital age to improve access: a pilot study

Anatomico-pathological specimens constitute a valuable component of many medical museums or institutional collections but can be limited in their impact on account of both physical and intellectual inaccessibility. Further concerns relate to conservation as anatomical specimens may be subject to tissue deterioration, constraints imposed by spatial or financial limitations of the host institution, or accident-based destruction. In awareness of these issues, a simple and easily implementable methodology to increase accessibility, impact and conservation of anatomical specimens is proposed which combines photogrammetry, object virtual reality (object VR), and interactive portable document format (PDF) with supplementary historical and anatomical commentary. The methodology was developed using wet, dry, and plastinated specimens from the historical and modern collections in the Museum of Anatomy at the University of Glasgow. It was found that photogrammetry yielded excellent results for plastinated specimens and showed potential for dry specimens, while object VR produced excellent photorealistic virtual specimens for all materials visualised. Use of PDF as output format was found to allow for the addition of textual, visual, and interactive content, and as such supplemented the virtual specimen with multidisciplinary information adaptable to the needs of various audiences. The results of this small-scale pilot study indicate the beneficial nature of combining these established techniques into a methodology for the digitisation and utilisation of historical anatomical collections in particular, but also collections of material culture more broadly

Scribonius Largus' Compounding of Drugs (Compositiones medicamentorum): introduction, translation, and medico-historical comments

Scribonius Largus’ Compounding of Drugs or Recipes for Remedies (Compositiones medicamentorum) is an important source for Roman medicine, especially pharmaceutical practice, in the first century CE. Its division into three main sections – remedies addressing complaints head to toe (a capite ad calcem), poisons and venoms (antidotes, theriacs, toxicology), and plasters, ointments, and similar “surgical” matters – allows for investigation of Scribonius’ approach to these respective aspects of medicine, the types of remedies and ingredients which form his therapeutic repertoire, and the technical knowledge and practical methods of drug compounding which constitute applied pharmacy in the early Roman Empire. The work’s preface and its index supplement the understanding of the Compositiones as a systematic reference work for treating common and dangerous ailments, based on a medical model with a strong commitment to ethical professional conduct and the tripartite nature of medicine as an inseparable union between pharmacy, surgery, and dietetics. While relatively obscure when compared to the more extensive and famous works of Pliny the Elder, Dioscorides, Celsus, and above all Galen, the material resonated with audiences of different time periods, leading to a varied reception and afterlife which ranges from second hand citations in Galen and extensive reproduction in Marcellus over individual recipes copied in medieval recipe compilations to dissertations by pharmacologists and dentists around the turn of the twentieth century, and include materials as diverse as medieval manuscripts, a Humanist commentary written in prison, a treatise on the pox, a doctoral thesis which is both a defence of Scribonius and of contemporary academic dentistry, and an engraving of the author on a large Theriac container. This thesis approaches these aspects of the Compositiones from two angles: in volume one, the text, its scholarly analysis, and the methodology taken here will be introduced before discussing the different sections and themes of the text – its approach to medicine and professional conduct, its structure and pharmaceutical practice, and its position in contemporary context, compared to the works of Celsus, Pliny the Elder, and Dioscorides. Its reception will also be discussed, with a focus on three late nineteenth and early twentieth century German language works which approach Scribonius from a pharmacological (Felix Rinne, 1892/1896) or dental perspective (Walter Wriedt, Fritz Trilk, 1921) which illustrate engagement of scientists and practitioners with ancient medical texts and medico-historical studies and their importance as part of the legitimisation and identity formation strategies of newly developing academic disciplines such as pharmacology and academic dentistry. Volume two lets the work speak for itself and aims to make Scribonius more accessible to a wider range of audiences by providing an English translation of the Compositiones which reflects the technical and at times challenging nature of the text and its translation into a modern language and attempts to clarify ambiguities, uncertainties, or problems with text or meaning by extensive explanatory annotations and comments, as well as drawing attention to noteworthy elements of medico-historical interest. The translation is supplemented by an appendix listing the – at times tentative – modern scientific botanical names and, where possible or suitable, chemical composition of mineral and inorganic substances mentioned in the text

The Compositiones Medicamentorum of Scribonius Largus

The Compositiones Medicamentorum of Scribonius Largus constitute an important but little known contribution to the history of first century CE Roman medical and pharmacological writing. This dissertation will contribute both a general introduction to Scribonius Largus and the Compositiones Medicamentorum, as well as a more detailed discussion of this text in order to stress its relevance to the study and understanding of ancient medicine, ethics, and pharmacology. Scribonius Largus emerges as a physician concerned with the professional obligations, personal morality, and sympathy as well as empathy required of the medical practitioner, and who considers ethics to be the foundation of and consequently inseparable from medicine. With regards to the more medical and pharmacological side of the Compositiones, it will be shown that in comparison to the theoretical and philosophical approaches to disease and treatment that dominate the medical discourse of his time, Scribonius Largus was a much more practice-focused author with little concern for discussions of the aetiology of disease, although indications can be found that Scribonius was familiar with and is influenced in certain ways by the dominant schools of medicine of his times, particularly methodism and empiricism. Furthermore, it will be argued that despite containing cases where the approach to treatment might be considered superstitious, the Compositiones constitute a remarkably rational text with a quantitative and evidence-focused approach to pharmacology and therapeutics. Although the Compositiones have been previously studied predominantly with respect to its epistula dedicatoria and for its illustration of medical Latin, the work will be shown to constitute a valuable source for the study of Roman medical practice. The thesis concludes with suggestions for further research beyond the present analysis

Methodology To Capture Historical And Modern Preserved Anatomical Specimens For Use In The Digital Age To Improve Access - A Pilot Study

Anatomico-pathological specimens constitute a valuable component of many medical museums or institutional collections but can be limited in their impact on account of both physical and intellectual inaccessibility. Further concerns relate to conservation as anatomical specimens may be subject to tissue deterioration, constraints imposed by spatial or financial limitations of the host institution, or accident-based destruction. In awareness of these issues, a simple and easily implementable methodology to increase accessibility, impact and conservation of anatomical specimens is proposed which combines photogrammetry, object virtual reality (object VR), and interactive portable document format (PDF) with supplementary historical and anatomical commentary. The methodology was developed using wet, dry, and plastinated specimens from the historical and modern collections in the Museum of Anatomy at the University of Glasgow. It was found that photogrammetry yielded excellent results for plastinated specimens and showed potential for dry specimens, while object VR produced excellent photorealistic virtual specimens for all materials visualised. Use of PDF as output format was found to allow for the addition of textual, visual, and interactive content, and as such supplemented the virtual specimen with multidisciplinary information adaptable to the needs of various audiences. The results of this small-scale pilot study indicate the beneficial nature of combining these established techniques into a methodology for the digitisation and utilisation of historical anatomical collections in particular, but also collections of material culture more broadly

Digitisation of Anatomical Specimens and Historical Pathology Specimens for Educational Benefit

In this paper we describe the scanning and digital development of anatomical and pathological specimens through trialling a variety of software packages and approaches to the creation of a digital record. Medical museums have traditionally been something that has not always been accessible to the wider public for a variety of reasons. The traditions within medicine and the science of the human body have typically not always been able to be accessed to members of the public. However, digitising artefacts is becoming more common, and this can enable wider access to scientific information to ensure people are more fully informed about the body and its processes and the rich history of medical science. As such, we present here a variety of means to digitise anatomical and pathological collections of historical specimens of international cultural significance. We present here the challenges with imaging these types of specimens and offer solutions to a range of challenges faced in the scanning of specimens. The use of digital specimens and their integration into learning and teaching is also considered. This should provide a research-informed and research-led approach to enhance the creation of digital assets for use in online museums and digital games, not just for the anatomy and pathology fields, but that of the wider museum community involved in engagement of a variety of different audiences