Search

High-acuity trauma necessitates experienced and rapid intervention to prevent patient harm. However, upskilling junior trainees through hands-on management of real trauma cases is rarely feasible without compromising patient safety. This quality education report sought to investigate whether a simulation course operated via mixed reality (MR) headset devices (Microsoft HoloLens) could enhance the clinical knowledge recall and preparedness to practice of junior trainees with no prior experience managing trauma.The Plan-Do-Study-Act quality improvement method was used to refine six emergency trauma vignettes compatible with an MR teaching platform. Each vignette was curated by a multidisciplinary team of orthopaedic surgeons, clinical fellows and experts in simulation-based medical education. As a baseline assessment, a 2-hour emergency trauma course was delivered using traditional didactic methods to a cohort of pre-registration medical students with no clinical exposure to high-acuity trauma (n=16). Next, we delivered the MR simulation to an equivalent cohort (n=32). Clinical knowledge scores derived from written test papers were recorded for each group during and 2 weeks after each course. Each attendee's end-of-rotation clinical supervisor appraisal grade was recorded, as determined by a consultant surgeon who supervised participants during a 2-week placement on a major trauma ward. Balancing measures included participant feedback and validated cognitive load questionnaires (National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index).Overall, attendees of the MR simulation course achieved and sustained higher clinical knowledge scores and were more likely to receive a positive consultant supervisor appraisal. This project serves as a proof of concept that MR wearable technologies can be used to improve clinical knowledge recall and enhance the preparedness to practice of novice learners with otherwise limited clinical exposure to high-acuity trauma., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Computer assisted surgical navigation systems are designed to improve outcomes by providing clinicians with procedural guidance information. The use of new technologies, such as mixed reality, offers the potential for more intuitive, efficient, and accurate procedural guidance. The goal of this study is to assess the positional accuracy and consistency of a clinical mixed reality system that utilizes commercially available wireless head-mounted displays (HMDs), custom software, and localization instruments., Methods: Independent teams using the second-generation Microsoft HoloLens © hardware, Medivis SurgicalAR © software, and localization instruments, tested the accuracy of the combined system at different institutions, times, and locations. The ASTM F2554-18 consensus standard for computer-assisted surgical systems, as recognized by the U.S. FDA, was utilized to measure the performance. 288 tests were performed., Results: The system demonstrated consistent results, with an average accuracy performance that was better than one millimeter (.75 ± SD .37 mm)., Conclusion: Independently acquired positional tracking accuracies exceed conventional in-market surgical navigation tracking systems and FDA standards. Importantly, the performance was achieved at two different institutions, using an international testing standard, and with a system that included a commercially available off-the-shelf wireless head mounted display and software., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflict of InterestThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Authors with affiliation at the US Department of Veteran Affairs Palo Alto Health care System have no conflicts of interest to declare. Authors with affiliation at Medivis, Inc. Are employees and/or owners and declare stock ownership in the company.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced industry and national regulatory authorities (NRAs) to think about innovative ways to ensure business continuity, including Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) inspections. Even prior to COVID-19, it was understood that GMP site inspections, especially redundant inspections, are a time and resource-intensive process for both industry and regulators in high-income countries and often prohibitive to resource-challenged countries. Thus, we investigated the use of a mixed reality device and Microsoft (MS) Teams as a platform for mixed reality (hybrid) remote inspection. This pilot involved a mock GMP inspection of a drug manufacturing facility in the United States. The mock inspection was conducted by two former USFDA (US Food and Drug Administration) investigators, facilitated by representatives from Northeastern University along with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Also participating in the inspection were inspectors from national regulatory agencies (NRAs) from the African continent, including Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, and representatives from the Pre-Qualification Inspection Unit at the World Health Organization (WHO). Harmonized inspectional guidance from PIC/s (GMP Guide) and WHO (TRS 823) were used as the standards for conducting the mock inspection. We found that mixed reality, used in conjunction with a collaborative text messaging system, is a viable tool to facilitate remote inspections and allows inspectors participating remotely to write their own independent inspection reports., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The term Metaverse ("meta" defined as beyond, transcendence or virtuality, and "verse" meaning universe or world) denotes a "virtual reality space" for anatomy teaching. To ascertain how many anatomists are familiar or are using this adjunct in teaching, we conducted a short survey at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists (AACA). Interestingly, only six respondents (9.4%) had used a Metaverse for teaching anatomy. Moreover, the vast majority of attendees were anatomy educators or basic science faculty, but not practicing physicians/surgeons or other actively practicing health care professionals; a group where this technology has been used much more commonly. The present manuscript was authored by anatomy educators, practicing physicians and other actively practicing health care professionals with backgrounds in diverse medical fields, that is, anatomists, medical doctors, physician assistants, dentists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors, veterinarians, and medical students. Many of these authors have used or have been exposed to a Metaverse in the clinical realm. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to better understand those who are knowledgeable of a Metaverse and its use in anatomy education, and to provide ways forward for using such technology in this discipline., (© 2022 American Association of Clinical Anatomists and British Association of Clinical Anatomists.)

Augmented and virtual reality devices are being actively investigated and implemented for a wide range of medical uses. However, significant gaps in the evaluation of these medical devices and applications hinder their regulatory evaluation. Addressing these gaps is critical to demonstrating the devices' safety and effectiveness. We outline the key technical and clinical evaluation challenges discussed during the US Food and Drug Administration's public workshop, "Medical Extended Reality: Toward Best Evaluation Practices for Virtual and Augmented Reality in Medicine" and future directions for evaluation method development. Evaluation challenges were categorized into several key technical and clinical areas. Finally, we highlight current efforts in the standards communities and illustrate connections between the evaluation challenges and the intended uses of the medical extended reality (MXR) devices. Participants concluded that additional research is needed to assess the safety and effectiveness of MXR devices across the use cases., (© 2022. This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Background: The acceleration of population aging calls for simple and effective interventions catered for older people. Gerontechnology, the combination of gerontology and technology, can promote quality of life in older adults. However, public health-related events incorporating information communication technology (ICT) for older people have seldom been evaluated., Objective: We reported the development and evaluation of two simple and brief digital health promotion games hosted at the annual Hong Kong Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit (GIES) in 2018 and 2019 to promote well-being., Methods: Two game booths (Dinosaur Augmented Reality photo-taking in 2018, Sit-and-Stand fitness challenge in 2019) were designed by our interdisciplinary team. Four gaming technologies were employed: augmented reality, chroma key (green screen), motion detection and 3D modeling. Immediately after the game, we administered a brief questionnaire survey to assess participant satisfaction, happiness and perceived benefits, and collected qualitative data through observations and informal interviews., Results: Majority of 1,186 and 729 game booth participants in 2018 and 2019, respectively, were female (73.4% and 64.7%) and older adults (65.5 and 65.2%). Overall satisfaction toward the game booths was high (4.64 ± 0.60 and 4.54 ± 0.68 out of 5), with females and older adults reporting higher scores. Average personal and family happiness of participants in 2018 were 8.2 and 8.0 (out of 10). 90.3 and 18.4% of participants in 2019 chose one or more personal (e.g. enhance healthy living habits 62.4%, enhance personal happiness 61.6%) and family (e.g. enhance family happiness 15.6%, improve family relationships 10.8%) benefits of the game booth, respectively. Participants showed enthusiasm toward the technologies, and pride in their physical abilities in the fitness challenge., Conclusion: Our report on the development and evaluation of brief game interventions with ICT showed high satisfaction and immediate perceived benefits in community participants. Females and older adults reported higher satisfaction. Simple tools measuring happiness and perceived benefits showed positive results. Older adults were receptive and enthusiastic about the new technologies. Our findings can inform researchers and organizers of similar events. More research on simple and enjoyable ICT interventions is needed to attract older adults and promote their well-being., Trial Registration: The research protocol was registered at the National Institutes of Health (Identifier number: NCT03960372) on May 23, 2019., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sit, Lai, Kwok, Wong, Wong, Chow, Kwok, Wang, Ho and Lam.)

Objectives: Inaccurate weight estimation is a contributing factor to medical error in pediatric emergencies, especially in the prehospital setting. Current American Heart Association guidelines recommend the use of length-based weight estimation tools such as the Broselow tape. We developed the AiRDose smartphone application that uses augmented reality to provide length-based weight estimates, as well as medication dosing, defibrillation energy, and equipment sizing recommendations; AiRDose was programmed to use Broselow conversions to obtain these estimates. The primary objective was to compare the length estimated by AiRDose with the actual length obtained by the standard tape measure. The secondary objectives were to compare the estimated weights and critical medication doses from AiRDose with current established methods., Methods: In this prospective validation study, lengths and estimated weights were obtained for children presenting to 2 emergency departments using AiRDose, Broselow, and a standard tape measure; actual weight was recorded from the patient chart. Using the AiRDose estimated weights, hypothetical doses of epinephrine and lorazepam were calculated and compared with doses recommended via Broselow and to actual weight-based doses. Spearman rank correlation coefficients were calculated. We defined an acceptable difference of 20% between AiRDose and standard measurements as clinically relevant., Results: Five hundred forty-nine children (mean age, 4.8 years; standard deviation [SD], 2.9 years) were recruited. There were 99.6% of AiRDose lengths within a 20% difference of tape-measure lengths. There was a significant correlation between AiRDose and tape-measure length measurements (r = 0.989, P < 0.0001), and between AiRDose and Broselow weights (r = 0.983, P < 0.0001) and AiRDose and actual weights (r = 0.886, P < 0.0001). AiRDose lorazepam and epinephrine doses correlated significantly with Broselow lorazepam (r = 0.963, P < 0.0001) and epinephrine (r = 0.966, P < 0.0001) doses., Conclusions: Anthropometric estimates and medication dose recommendations provided by AiRDose strongly correlate with established techniques. Further study will establish the feasibility of using AiRDose to accurately obtain weight estimates and medication doses for pediatric patients in the prehospital setting., Competing Interests: Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

While well-established in other surgical subspecialties, the benefits of extended reality, consisting of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) technologies, remains underexplored in neurosurgery despite its increasing utilization. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic review of the effects of extended reality (XR) in neurosurgery with an emphasis on the perioperative period, to provide a guide for future clinical optimization. Seven primary electronic databases were screened following guidelines outlined by PRISMA and the Institute of Medicine. Reported data related to outcomes in the perioperative period and resident training were all examined, and a focused analysis of studies reporting controlled, clinical outcomes was completed. After removal of duplicates, 2548 studies were screened with 116 studies reporting measurable effects of XR in neurosurgery. The majority (82%) included cranial based applications related to tumor surgery with 34% showing improved resection rates and functional outcomes. A rise in high-quality studies was identified from 2017 to 2020 compared to all previous years (p = 0.004). Primary users of the technology were: 56% neurosurgeon (n = 65), 28% residents (n = 33) and 5% patients (n = 6). A final synthesis was conducted on 10 controlled studies reporting patient outcomes. XR technologies have demonstrated benefits in preoperative planning and multimodal neuronavigation especially for tumor surgery. However, few studies have reported patient outcomes in a controlled design demonstrating a need for higher quality data. XR platforms offer several advantages to improve patient outcomes and specifically, the patient experience for neurosurgery., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The COVID-19 outbreak has now become a pandemic and has had a serious adverse impact on global public health. The effect of COVID-19 on the lungs can be determined through 2D computed tomography (CT) imaging, which requires a high level of spatial imagination on the part of the medical provider., Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine whether viewing a 3D hologram with mixed reality techniques can improve medical professionals' understanding of the pulmonary lesions caused by COVID-19., Methods: The study involved 60 participants, including 20 radiologists, 20 surgeons, and 20 medical students. Each of the three groups was randomly divided into two groups, either the 2D CT group (n=30; mean age 29 years [range 19-38 years]; males=20) or the 3D holographic group (n=30; mean age 30 years [range 20=38 years]; males=20). The two groups completed the same task, which involved identifying lung lesions caused by COVID-19 for 6 cases using a 2D CT or 3D hologram. Finally, an independent radiology professor rated the participants' performance (out of 100). All participants in two groups completed a Likert scale questionnaire regarding the educational utility and efficiency of 3D holograms. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) was completed by all participants., Results: The mean task score of the 3D hologram group (mean 91.98, SD 2.45) was significantly higher than that of the 2D CT group (mean 74.09, SD 7.59; P<.001). With the help of 3D holograms, surgeons and medical students achieved the same score as radiologists and made obvious progress in identifying pulmonary lesions caused by COVID-19. The Likert scale questionnaire results showed that the 3D hologram group had superior results compared to the 2D CT group (teaching: 2D CT group median 2, IQR 1-2 versus 3D group median 5, IQR 5-5; P<.001; understanding and communicating: 2D CT group median 1, IQR 1-1 versus 3D group median 5, IQR 5-5; P<.001; increasing interest: 2D CT group median 2, IQR 2-2 versus 3D group median 5, IQR 5-5; P<.001; lowering the learning curve: 2D CT group median 2, IQR 1-2 versus 3D group median 4, IQR 4-5; P<.001; spatial awareness: 2D CT group median 2, IQR 1-2 versus 3D group median 5, IQR 5-5; P<.001; learning: 2D CT group median 3, IQR 2-3 versus 3D group median 5, IQR 5-5; P<.001). The 3D group scored significantly lower than the 2D CT group for the "mental," "temporal," "performance," and "frustration" subscales on the NASA-TLX., Conclusions: A 3D hologram with mixed reality techniques can be used to help medical professionals, especially medical students and newly hired doctors, better identify pulmonary lesions caused by COVID-19. It can be used in medical education to improve spatial awareness, increase interest, improve understandability, and lower the learning curve., Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2100045845; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojen.aspx?proj=125761., (©Songxiang Liu, Mao Xie, Zhicai Zhang, Xinghuo Wu, Fei Gao, Lin Lu, Jiayao Zhang, Yi Xie, Fan Yang, Zhewei Ye. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 10.09.2021.)

Abstract: The objective of this project was to identify and develop software for an augmented reality application that runs on the US Army Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) to support a medical caregiver during tactical combat casualty care scenarios. In this augmented reality tactical combat casualty care application, human anatomy of individual soldiers obtained predeployment is superimposed on the view of an injured war fighter through the IVAS. This offers insight into the anatomy of the injured war fighter to advance treatment in austere environments.In this article, we describe various software components required for an augmented reality tactical combat casualty care tool. These include a body pose tracking system to track the patient's body pose, a virtual rendering of a human anatomy avatar, speech input to control the application and rendering techniques to visualize the virtual anatomy, and treatment information on the augmented reality display. We then implemented speech commands and visualization for four common medical scenarios including injury of a limb, a blast to the pelvis, cricothyrotomy, and a pneumothorax on the Microsoft HoloLens 1 (Microsoft, Redmond, WA).The software is designed for a forward surgical care tool on the US Army IVAS, with the intention to provide the medical caregiver with a unique ability to quickly assess affected internal anatomy. The current software components still had some limitations with respect to speech recognition reliability during noise and body pose tracking. These will likely be improved with the improved hardware of the IVAS, which is based on a modified HoloLens 2., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Augmented reality mediated spine surgery is a novel technology for spine navigation. Benchmark cadaveric data have demonstrated high accuracy and precision leading to recent regulatory approval. Absence of respiratory motion in cadaveric studies may positively bias precision and accuracy results and analogous investigations are prudent in live clinical scenarios., Objective: To report a technical note, accuracy, precision analysis of the first in-human deployment of this technology., Methods: A 78-yr-old female underwent an L4-S1 decompression, pedicle screw, and rod fixation for degenerative spine disease. Six pedicle screws were inserted via AR-HMD (xvision; Augmedics, Chicago, Illinois) navigation. Intraoperative computed tomography was used for navigation registration as well as implant accuracy and precision assessment. Clinical accuracy was graded per the Gertzbein-Robbins (GS) scale by an independent neuroradiologist. Technical precision was analyzed by comparing 3-dimensional (3D) (x, y, z) virtual implant vs real implant position coordinates and reported as linear (mm) and angular (°) deviation. Present data were compared to benchmark cadaveric data., Results: Clinical accuracy (per the GS grading scale) was 100%. Technical precision analysis yielded a mean linear deviation of 2.07 mm (95% CI: 1.62-2.52 mm) and angular deviation of 2.41° (95% CI: 1.57-3.25°). In comparison to prior cadaveric data (99.1%, 2.03 ± 0.99 mm, 1.41 ± 0.61°; GS accuracy 3D linear and angular deviation, respectively), the present results were not significantly different (P > .05)., Conclusion: The first in human deployment of the single Food and Drug Administration approved AR-HMD stereotactic spine navigation platform demonstrated clinical accuracy and technical precision of inserted hardware comparable to previously acquired cadaveric studies., (© Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2020.)

Background: The recent widespread availability of augmented reality via smartphone offers an opportunity to translate cue exposure therapy for smoking cessation from the laboratory to the real world. Despite significant reductions in the smoking rates in the last decade, approximately 13.7% of the adults in the United States continue to smoke. Smoking-related cue exposure has demonstrated promise as an adjuvant therapy in the laboratory, but practical limitations have prevented its success in the real world. Augmented reality technology presents an innovative approach to overcome these limitations., Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a smartphone app that presents smoking-related augmented reality images for cue exposure. Smokers provided feedback on the images and reported on the perceived urge to smoke, qualities of reality/coexistence, and general feedback about quality and functioning. The feedback was used to refine the augmented reality images within the app., Methods: In collaboration with an augmented reality design company, we developed 6 smoking-related images (cigarette, lighter, ashtray, lit cigarette in ashtray, etc) and 6 neutral images similar in size or complexity for comparison (pen, eraser, notebook, soda bottle with droplets, etc). Ten smokers completed a survey of demographic characteristics, smoking history and behavior, dependence on nicotine, motivation to quit smoking, and familiarity with augmented reality technology. Then, participants viewed each augmented reality image and provided ratings on 10-point Likert scales for urge to smoke and reality/coexistence of the image into the scene. Participants were also queried with open-ended questions regarding the features of the images., Results: Of the 10 participants, 5 (50%) had experienced augmented reality prior to the laboratory visit, but only 4 of those 5 participants used augmented reality at least weekly. Although the sample was small (N=10), smokers reported significantly higher urge to smoke after viewing the smoking-related augmented reality images (median 4.58, SD 3.49) versus the neutral images (median 1.42, SD 3.01) (Z=-2.14, P=.03; d=0.70). The average reality and coexistence ratings of the images did not differ between smoking-related and neutral images (all P>.29). Augmented reality images were found on average to be realistic (mean [SD] score 6.49 [3.11]) and have good environmental coexistence (mean [SD] score 6.93 [3.04]) and user coexistence (mean [SD] score 6.38 [3.27]) on the 10-point scale. Participant interviews revealed some areas of excellence (eg, details of the lit cigarette) and areas for improvement (eg, stability of images, lighting)., Conclusions: All images were generally perceived as being realistic and well-integrated into the environment. However, the smoking augmented reality images produced higher urge to smoke than the neutral augmented reality images. In total, our findings support the potential utility of augmented reality for cue exposure therapy. Future directions and next steps are discussed., (©Christine Vinci, Karen O Brandon, Marloes Kleinjan, Laura M Hernandez, Leslie E Sawyer, Jody Haneke, Steven K Sutton, Thomas H Brandon. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 31.12.2020.)

As avid users of technology, adolescents are a key demographic to engage when designing and developing technology applications for health. There are multiple opportunities for improving adolescent health, from promoting preventive behaviors to providing guidance for adolescents with chronic illness in supporting treatment adherence and transition to adult health care systems. This article will provide a brief overview of current technologies and then highlight new technologies being used specifically for adolescent health, such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and machine learning. Because there is paucity of evidence in this field, we will make recommendations for future research., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2020 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Introduction: This article presents an emerging capability to project damage control procedures far forward for situations where evacuation to a formal surgical team is delayed. Specifically, we demonstrate the plausibility of using a wearable augmented reality (AR) telestration device to guide a nonsurgeon through a damage control procedure., Methods: A stand-alone, low-profile, commercial-off-the-shelf wearable AR display was utilized by a remotely located surgeon to synchronously guide a nonsurgeon through proximal control of the distal external iliac artery on a surgical manikin. The manikin wound pattern was selected to simulate a rapidly exsanguinating junctional hemorrhage not controllable by nonsurgical means., Results: This capability demonstration displayed successful use of AR technology, telecommunication, and procedural training and guidance in a single test pilot. The assisted physician assistant was able to rapidly control the simulated external iliac artery injury on this model. The telestration system used was commercially available for use with available civilian cell phone, wireless and satellite networks, without the need for dedicated high-speed networks., Conclusions: A nonsurgeon, using a wearable commercial on-visual-axis telestration system, successfully performed a damage control procedure, demonstrating the plausibility of this approach., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2020.)

In light of the technological, social, and political changes taking place in the world today, it is important that nurses are not just culturally competent but globally informed and engaged. The goal of this paper is to help nurses help their patients and themselves to benefit from globalization. The use of guided simulation, virtual reality, and augmented reality learning experiences is considered for each of five areas of global nursing; global aesthetics, global intelligence, global ethics, global politics, and global health. This approach invites nurses and student nurses to discern new patterns, take charge of their learning, and build multiple iterations to facilitate the processing of new and different information and "realities."