Simulation in Echocardiography: An Ever-Expanding Frontier

Pro: Simulation Training in Transesophageal Echocardiography

“…One of the advantages of simulation over classic clinical instruction is that, whereas the only consequence of a mistake during simulation training is an opportunity for learning, mistakes made during clinical training may be an important cause of patient discomfort or morbidity. 7 The possibility of preventing patient discomfort or complications is invaluable, both in human and economic terms.…”

Automatized fuzzy evaluation of CT scan heart slices for creating 3D/4D heart model

“…The transesophageal echocardiography simulator with mannequin [57] as well as ultrasound simulators for cardiovascular and urological examinations [10,17,20,24,44,49,50,61] can be put as the examples. The number of reviews of quality, accessibility and usability of the mentioned simulators has been increasing continuously [9,30,45,48].…”

Training in Echocardiography—Top-Down or a Bottom-Up Approach?

“…There is also an expectation of rapid acquisition of motor skills required for probe manipulation and handling without an objective system of performance feedback. [2][3][4] Also, using the clinical arena for training does not ensure a skillappropriate level of training, 4 nor does it allow the instructor to ensure that the manual and cognitive education are coordinated. Success in task completion is subjective and endpoint-based (ie, image quality).…”

“…There are numerous commercially available mixed echocardiography simulators. 4 Probe manipulations made during image acquisition maneuvers with these simulators can be captured in the threedimensional space. This data can be graphically displayed in near realtime to provide an objective feedback with motion analysis.…”

“…1,5,6 The use of simulators as performance assessment tools is a significant improvement from their classic role as situational or task training tools. 4 Other specialties have formally introduced exposure to these mixed simulators during accredited training. Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery and Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery are such curriculum-based programs, introduced in accredited surgical resi-dency programs.…”