Immersive Virtual Reality Medical Simulation: Autonomous Trauma Training Simulator

Abstract

Background Medical and traumatic emergencies can be intimidating and stressful. This is especially true for early-career medical personnel. Training providers to respond effectively to medical emergencies before being confronted with a real scenario is limited by unnatural or high-cost training modalities that fail to realistically replicate the stress and gravity of real-world trauma management. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) may provide a unique training solution. Methods We created a working group of 10 active duty or former military emergency medicine physicians and two technical experts. We hosted 10 meetings to facilitate the development process. The program was developed with financial support from the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), through the primary vendor Exonicus, Inc, with support from Anatomy Next Inc, and Kitware, Inc. Development was completed using an agile project management style, which allowed our team to review progress and provide immediate feedback on previous milestones throughout its completion. The working group completed the resulting four simulation scenarios to evaluate perceived realism and training potential. Finally, testing of the technology platform off the network in a deployed role 3 was conducted.

Extended Reality for Enhanced Telehealth During and Beyond COVID-19: Viewpoint

“…Intelligent AR information displays enhanced the workflows of frontline hospital staff to increase clinical efficiency, improve remote team communications, reduce COVID exposure by 51.5%, and decrease PPE consumption by 83% [ 52 ]. VR simulation systems for trauma and emergency medicine offered effective and high-fidelity alternatives to traditional supervision with less need to consume PPE for on-site medical training [ 53 ]. XR telehealth alternatives were also demonstrated for patient therapy.…”

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical School Admissions: Challenges and Solutions

“…Further, some trauma centers are utilizing virtual reality medical simulations to train medical students and early-career doctors. 15 Virtual learning platforms have been helpful in providing online courses and a method to practice technical skills during COVID-19. 16 Such virtual learning, used for surgical residents, can be useful for all levels of medical training to prevent burnout and allow time to focus on technical skills.…”

Ready Medic One: A Feasibility Study of a Semi-Autonomous Virtual Reality Trauma Simulator

“…This was completed through the support of the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center and our technical collaborators. We describe the collaborative development of this simulator in a separate article (Couperus et al, 2020). The available simulations are based on the highest mortality battlefield injuries: massive hemorrhage, tension pneumothorax, and airway obstruction (Couperus et al, 2020).…”

“…We describe the collaborative development of this simulator in a separate article (Couperus et al, 2020). The available simulations are based on the highest mortality battlefield injuries: massive hemorrhage, tension pneumothorax, and airway obstruction (Couperus et al, 2020). In addition, multiple VR simulators are being utilized and studied; however, this VR simulator provides crucial training opportunities for military health professionals for complex procedures such as cricothyrotomy that are not encountered with high frequency throughout training education (Kaufmann and Liu, 2001;Davis and Warrington, 2021).…”