Determination of bacterial load on real bone and 3D printing bone models used in veterinary anatomy education
Abstract
In veterinary anatomy education, real bones used for instructional purposes often develop problems over time, including wear, odor, and mold. In recent years, educational materials have been produced using 3D printing technologies with different filaments such as PLA, PETG, ABS, and TPU. No information in the literature addresses the hygiene-related advantages or disadvantages of real bone compared with produced prints in the laboratory. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the health suitability of 3D bone models produced using standard PLA and antibacterial PLA, and of educational models consisting of real bone. In this study, a total of 15 models (five of each) were examined and sterilized using formaldehyde fumigation. All models were used in the student laboratory for three months. At the end of this period, subsamples were taken from each sample to determine aerobic mesophilic bacterial loads. Among the real bones, the highest bacterial loads were found in the axis and the cranium. Bacterial loads were similar in the scapula, humerus, and femur and in models of these bones fabricated from standard PLA. No bacteria were isolated from any of the antibacterial PLA models. As a result, it was observed that antibacterial PLA was the most hygienic model under laboratory conditions, that sterilization by formaldehyde fumigation effectively eliminated bacteria, and that it did not cause any visible deformation or discoloration of the filaments.
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Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Submission Date | June 20, 2025 |
| Acceptance Date | December 6, 2025 |
| Early Pub Date | February 16, 2026 |
| Publication Date | February 16, 2026 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.33988/auvfd.1723569 |
| IZ | https://izlik.org/JA38DH87FM |
| Published in Issue | Year 2026 Issue: Advanced Online Publication |
Cite
Aim & Scope
‘Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi’ aims to disseminate high-quality, peer-reviewed scientific research that contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of veterinary medicine and animal science. The journal seeks to serve as an international platform for the publication of original research articles, short communications, case reports, and invited review articles, promoting scientific excellence and interdisciplinary collaboration. Ankara Univ Vet Fak Derg publishes review articles by invitation only.
The scope of the journal encompasses all major disciplines of veterinary medicine and animal science, including but not limited to basic veterinary sciences, veterinary clinical sciences, animal health, animal production, animal welfare, food safety of animal origin, and related interdisciplinary research areas.
Author Guidelines
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Click here for a sample case report.
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Instructions for Authors
(Effective from 07 February 2026. Manuscripts must be prepared according to the format specified herein. Manuscripts submitted before this date will be evaluated in accordance with the previously applicable guidelines.)
1. Language: The official language of the journal is English.
2. Types of Manuscripts: The journal publishes original research articles, review articles, case reports, and short communications in all areas of veterinary medicine and animal science. Manuscripts must be original, not previously published in whole or in part, and not under consideration elsewhere, except for abstracts not exceeding 300 words. Review articles are accepted by invitation only. For systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials, authors must adhere to the PRISMA statement. A completed PRISMA checklist and flow diagram must be submitted with the manuscript. Templates are available through the EQUATOR Network.
3. Manuscript Submission: All manuscripts must be submitted online via the journal’s submission system. Once a manuscript has been submitted electronically, changes in authorship (including addition, removal, or reordering of authors) are not permitted.
4. Manuscript Preparation:
General Format
Manuscripts (including footnotes, references, figure legends, and tables) should be prepared as follows:
• Font: Times New Roman, 12-point
• Spacing: Double-spaced
• Page size: A4
• Margins: 3 cm on all sides
• Line numbering: Continuous
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Length Limits
• Original Research Articles: maximum 20 pages
• Review Articles: maximum 20 pages
• Case Reports and Short Communications: maximum 7 pages
(Including tables and figures)
5. Structure of Manuscripts
Original Research Articles
Manuscripts should be arranged in the following order:
• Title
• Author names and affiliations
• ORCID
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• Financial Support
• Ethical Statement
• Conflict of Interest
• Author Contributions
• Data Availability Statement
• Declaration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Animal Welfare
• References
Case Reports
Case reports should be structured as follows:
• Title
• Author names and affiliations
• ORCID
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Case History
• Discussion and Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• Financial Support
• Ethical Statement
• Conflict of Interest
• Author Contributions
• Data Availability Statement
• Declaration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• References
Short Communications
Short Communications should be structured as follows:
• Title
• Author names and affiliations
• ORCID
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• Financial Support
• Ethical Statement
• Conflict of Interest
• Author Contributions
• Data Availability Statement
• Declaration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• References
6. Title Page
The title should be short, clear, and written in lowercase letters.
Author names should be written as first name followed by LAST NAME.
ORCID are mandatory for all authors.
7. Abstract and Keywords
• Abstract: Single paragraph, maximum 300 words
• Keywords: 3–5 words, listed alphabetically
8. Introduction
The introduction should include a concise review of the relevant literature. The aim(s) and hypothesis of the study should be clearly stated in the final paragraph.
9. Materials and Methods
This section should be brief, clear, and without unnecessary details. Type of research (descriptive, observation, experimental, case-control, follow-up etc.), characteristics of subjects, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sampling method if it was used in conjunction with the data collection phase, and reason for sampling method without probability, if it was used, should be indicated. Sample size and its calculation method, power value is calculated, and censored and missing numbers should be indicated. Statistical analysis and its software applications should be indicated. Subheadings should be written in italic font.
10. Results
Results should be presented briefly and clearly. Information presented in tables or figures should not be repeated in the text. Subheadings should be written in italic font. Secondary subheadings should be written in normal font.
11. Abbreviations, Symbols, and Units
• Abbreviations must be defined at first mention
• Latin names of genus and species should be written in italic font
• All measurements must follow the International System of Units (SI)
12. Discussion and Conclusion
This section should interpret the results of the present study in relation to previous findings reported in the literature.
13. Acknowledgements
If the study is derived from a doctoral or master’s thesis, supported by a project, or presented at a scientific meeting, this must be stated.
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This research received no grant from any funding agency, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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Studies involving animal experiments must include an Ethical Committee Approval Statement, for example:
This study was approved by the Ankara University Animal Experiments Local Ethics Committee (Approval No: XXXX).
16. Conflict of Interest
Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. If none exist, the following statement should be used:
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
17. Author Contributions
Author contributions should be clearly described using initials (e.g., XX, YY).
18. Data Availability Statement
The availability of data supporting the findings of the study must be stated as the data supporting this study's findings are availablefrom the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
19. Declaration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The authors declare that generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies were not used in the writing of this manuscript or in the creation of figures.
20. Animal Welfare
The authors confirm that the study was conducted in accordance with the ARRIVE Guidelines for the protection of animals used for scientific purposes.
21. References
All references cited in the article must be included in the reference list, and all entries in the reference list must be cited within the text. All references used in the manuscript should be arranged alphabetically and numbered accordingly. The corresponding numbers should be used for in-text citations.
Abbreviate journal names according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations (LTWA - https://www.issn.org/services/online-services/access-to-the-ltwa/ ).
The following is the style used for common types of references:
[Times New Roman 12 bold] (It should be numbered and written in alphabetical order). For references with more than 3 authors, only the first 3 authors should be listed, followed by "et al"
1. Adams DC, Rohlf FJ, Slice DE (2004): Geometric morphometrics: ten years of progress following the revolution. Ital J Zool, 71, 5-16. DOI: 10.33988/auvfd. 1748170.
2. AOAC (2000): Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Official Methods of Analysis, 17th ed. AOAC International Maryland USA.
3. Bishop CD (1995): Antiviral activity of the essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden and Betche) Cheel (tea tree) against tobacco mosaic virus. J Essential Oil Res, 7, 641- 644. DOI: 10.33988/auvfd. 1748170.
4. Hui YH (1996): Oleoresins and essential oils. 145-153. In: Hui YH (Ed.). Bailey’s industrial oil and fat products. Wiley-Interscience Publication. New York, USA.
5. Lamont LA, Bulmer BJ, Sisson DD, et al (2002): Doppler echocardiographic effects of medetomidine on dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 221, 1276-1281. DOI: 10.33988/auvfd. 1748170.
6. Sandstedt K, Ursing J, Walder M (1983): Thermotolerant Campylobacter with no or weak catalase activity isolated from dogs. Curr Microbiol, 8, 209-213. DOI: 10.33988/auvfd. 1748170.
7. Sandstedt K, Ursing J (1991): Description of the Campylobacter upsaliensis previously known as CNW group. Syst Appl Microbiol, 14, 39-45. DOI: 10.33988/auvfd. 1748170.
Please use the following data for arranging your references,
For journals:
For references with more than 3 authors, only the first 3 authors should be listed, followed by "et al"
Lamont LA, Bulmer BJ, Sisson DD, et al (2002): Doppler echocardiographic effects of medetomidine on dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 221, 1276-1281. DOI: 10.33988/auvfd. 1748170.
For proceedings:
Griban VG, Stepchenko LM, Zhorina LV (1988): The live weight gain and disease resistance of young cattle and poultry stock as influenced by physiologically active peat preparation. 45-50. In: Proceedings of 8th International Peat Congress. Leningrad, Russia.
For books:
Falconer DS (1960): Introduction to Quantitative Genetics. Oliver and Boyd Ltd, Edinburgh.
For book chapters:
Bahk J, Marth EH (1990): Listeriosis and Listeria monocytogenes. 248-256. In: DO Cliver (Ed), Foodborne Diseases. Academic Press, San Diego.
For thesis:
Antak A (2013): Impact of Stress on Poultry Production and Welfare. Master’s thesis, in Turkish. Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye.
Antak A (2013): Impact of Stress on Poultry Production and Welfare. PhD thesis, in Turkish. Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye.
For electronic materials:
Li G, Hart A, Gregory J (1998): Effect of velocity gradient on flocculation. Available at http://www.server.com/projects/paper2.html. (Accessed May 20, 2004).
25. Tables and Figures
All figures and images must have a minimum resolution of 1920 × 1280 pixels or 300 dpi to ensure high-quality online.
Tables and figures should be placed on separate pages at the end of the manuscript.
26. Additional Policies
Studies that compare products identified by trade names are not considered for publication. Trade names should not be used in the manuscript. Authors are solely responsible for the scientific content and ethical integrity of their published work.
Ethical Principles and Publication Policy
ETHICAL POLICY
With the awareness of responsibility as the first Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Türkiye, we consider the principles of transparency, confidentiality, and accountability within the framework of ethical rules throughout the entire process of national and international dissemination of scientific knowledge. We also aim to continuously improve all processes through a quality-oriented, efficient, and competitive approach.
We expect all authors and reviewers to read and understand our ethics policy prior to submitting or evaluating a manuscript. The primary objective of this policy is to provide guidance on the ethical responsibilities of authors, editors, and reviewers.
Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi follows the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. Refereed articles are studies that require scientific methods and ensure objectivity. All components of the publication process (publisher, editors, authors, reviewers, and readers) are required to comply with ethical rules for scientific production. The ethical statement of Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakultesi Dergisi is based on the principles indicated in the “COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors” (http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf) and “COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors” (http://publicationethics.org/files/u2/Best_Practice.pdf). Authors are expected to fulfill the authorship criteria proposed by McNutt et al. (2018). The editorial and publication processes of the journal are managed in accordance with the regulations of the Council of Higher Education of Türkiye (YÖK).
General Rules
• Original research articles, reviews, case reports, and short communications in all fields of veterinary science that have not been previously published or submitted elsewhere, in whole or in part, except for abstracts not exceeding 300 words, are published in the journal.
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Authors, editors, and reviewers are expected to adhere to ethical standards regarding:
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• Data fabrication and data falsification
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Authors submitting manuscripts to Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:
• Submitted works must be original and unpublished.
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• Individuals who did not contribute intellectually to the study should not be listed as authors.
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Editors are responsible for:
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Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi is committed to implementing informed consent in accordance with research ethics, based on the Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects and the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.
Informed consent and approval from the relevant ethics committee must be obtained for clinical studies involving humans, animals, or human/animal-derived specimens, and this information must be clearly stated in the related section. For studies involving human volunteers, a written informed consent form, prepared in accordance with the research protocol, must be obtained.
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JOURNAL POLICY
• Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi (Ankara Univ Vet Fak Derg) is an international, peer reviewed, and open access scientific journal published quarterly in January, April, July, and October.
• There are no submission, publication, or page charges for articles published in Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi.
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• At least two independent external reviewers are required.
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• The submission and publication of content created by artificial intelligence, language models, machine learning, or similar technologies is discouraged, unless part of formal research design or methods, and is not permitted without clear description of the content that was created and the name of the model or tool, version and extension numbers, and manufacturer. Authors must take responsibility for the integrity of the content generated by these models and tools.
Additional information for authors:
AI Used in Manuscript Preparation
When traditional and generative AI technologies are used to create, review, revise, or edit any of the content in a manuscript, authors should report in the Acknowledgment section the following:
Name of the AI software platform, program, or tool
Version and extension numbers
Manufacturer
Date(s) of use
A brief description of how the AI was used and on what portions of the manuscript or content
Confirmation that the author(s) take responsibility for the integrity of the content generated
Note this guidance does not apply to basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references, and similar.
AI Used in Research
When AI (eg, large language model [LLM] or natural language processing [NLP], supervised or unsupervised machine learning [ML] for predictive/prescriptive or clustering tasks, chatbots, or similar other technologies) is used as part of a scientific study, authors should:
Follow relevant reporting guidelines for specific study designs when they exist and report each recommended guideline element with sufficient detail to enable reproducibility.
Avoid inclusion of identifiable patient information in text, tables, and figures.
Be aware of copyright and intellectual property concerns - if including content (text, images) generated by AI, and indicate rights or permissions to publish that content as determined by the AI service or owner.
Also address the following:
Methods Section
Include the study design and, if a relevant reporting guideline exists, indicate how it was followed, with sufficient detail to enable reproducibility.
Describe how AI was used for specific aspects of the study (eg, to generate or refine study hypotheses, assist in the generation of a list of adjustment variables, create graphs to show visual relationships).
For studies using LLMs, provide the name of the platform or program, tool, version, and manufacturer; specify dates and prompt(s) used and their sequence and any revisions to prompts in response to initial outputs.
For studies reporting ML and algorithm development, include details about data sets used for development, training, and validation. Clearly state if algorithms were trained and tested only on previously collected or existing data sets or if the study includes prospective deployment. Include the ML model and describe the variables and outcome(s) and selection of the fine-tuning parameters. Describe any assumptions involved (eg, log linearity, proportionality) and how these assumptions were tested.
Indicate the metric used to evaluate the performance of the algorithms, including bias, discrimination, calibration, reclassification, and others as appropriate.
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Describe methods or analyses included to address and manage AI-related methodologic bias and inaccuracy of AI-generated content.
Indicate, when appropriate, if sensitivity analyses were performed to explore the performance of the AI model in vulnerable or underrepresented subgroups.
Provide a data sharing statement, including if code will be shared.
Results Section
When reporting comparisons, provide performance assessments (eg, against standard of care), include effect sizes and measures of uncertainty (eg, 95% CIs) and other measurements such as likelihood ratios, and include information about performance errors, inaccurate or missing data, and sufficient detail for others to reproduce the findings.
Report the results of analyses to address methodologic bias and population representation.
If examples of generated text or content are included in tables or figures, be sure to indicate the source and licensing information, as noted above.
Discussion Section
Discuss the potential for AI-related bias and what was done to identify and mitigate such bias.
Discuss the potential for inaccuracy of AI-generated content and what was done to identify and manage this.
Discuss generalizability of findings across populations and results of analyses performed to explore the performance of the AI model in vulnerable or underrepresented subgroups.
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