Augmented reality training in basic life support with the help of smart glasses. A pilot study

Use of Smart Glasses (Assisted Reality) for Western Australian X-ray Operators’ Continuing Professional Development: A Pilot Study

“…Over the last few years, numerous studies have investigated the use of smart glasses (with [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] and without augmented reality [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]) in healthcare. Given that our study participants lived in rural/remote areas with an expected digital divide issue [47][48][49], the more advanced use of smart glasses, i.e., augmented reality with superimposing virtual objects on video of real world was not used for our XROs to obtain remote support in their radiography practice from their supervising radiographers [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46].…”

“…Given that our study participants lived in rural/remote areas with an expected digital divide issue [47][48][49], the more advanced use of smart glasses, i.e., augmented reality with superimposing virtual objects on video of real world was not used for our XROs to obtain remote support in their radiography practice from their supervising radiographers [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]. Among the recent studies on the use of smart glasses without any augmented reality [5][6][7][8][9][10][12][13][14][15][16], only four evaluated its use with real patients and their sample sizes were 8 [15], 37 [16], 103 [5] and 622 [14], respectively. For the other studies [6][7][8][9][10]12,13], only one to six simulated clinical scenarios were involved.…”

“…Among the recent studies on the use of smart glasses without any augmented reality [5][6][7][8][9][10][12][13][14][15][16], only four evaluated its use with real patients and their sample sizes were 8 [15], 37 [16], 103 [5] and 622 [14], respectively. For the other studies [6][7][8][9][10]12,13], only one to six simulated clinical scenarios were involved. In contrast, our study covered 497 patients during the intervention period, which could be considered a strength.…”

“…However, 982 patients' X-ray examination data were used for evaluating the XROs' competence development, which was greater than the similar study on using the traditional VC platform for XROs' CPD in Queensland [3]. Also, for many studies about using the smart glasses in healthcare, only one to six simulated clinical scenarios instead of real patients were employed for the evaluation [6][7][8][9][10]12,13]. Moreover, our non-patient participant number exceeded some of the similar smart glasses studies' ones which were as low as two participants.…”

“…Its control can be completely handsfree through voice and/or motion recognition [2,4]. Examples of its recent application areas in healthcare include basic life support [6]; medical [7] and nursing student trainings [8][9][10]; emergency medical service delivery [11,12]; telehealth and telemedicine practice for metropolitan, rural and remote areas involving general and specialist physicians such as neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons and pediatric ophthalmologists; nurses; and emergency medical technicians [5,[13][14][15][16]. Hence, these uses indicate that the smart glasses could be considered a better technological solution for the XROs in WA rural/remote areas to seek professional support from their supervising radiographers in the larger clinical centers to undertake challenging radiography examinations, and improve their radiographic skills, including X-ray image quality, over time as a better CPD channel when compared with the traditional VC support reported in the aforementioned Queensland XROs' CPD study [3].…”