Training on a vascular interventional simulator: an observational study

Abstract

Radiology registrars were observed performing a left renal artery angioplasty using a proprietary training simulator up to five times during their first year of training. Total procedure time, fluoroscopy times, and metric information from the machine were recorded. Each step of the procedure was judged by an observer and a mistake profile was generated. Fifty-two runs were completed by 12 trainees. The mean procedure time decreased from 16.6 min to 9.8 min over the five runs. The number of mistakes ranged from zero to ten and the mean number of mistakes made varied from 0.7 to 2.6 per procedure without any particular trend. Our study demonstrates that training on the simulator does improve performance. The mistakes made throughout training indicates the potential benefit from further simulator training. It remains unclear how to integrate this form of training in current educational programs.

Do Video Games Predict an Early Advanced Capacity to Learn Interventional Radiology Skills?

“…Second, previous studies exceeded ours in the extent to which the technical skills of participants were tested (examination of multiple simulations over time or of several tasks contemporaneously and complexity of task) and evaluated (utilization of both subjective observational assessments and multiple objective metrics such as also fluoroscopy time and contrast media usage). 19 These studies reported statistically significant differences in endovascular skill relative to level of clinical or simulated experience, 20-25 and positive correlations between VG play and laparoscopic or endovascular surgical skill. 5-8 Furthermore, our sample size was below average compared to the previous literature.…”

“…First, IR skill was evaluated on the previously validated VIST G5® Simulator (Mentice AB, Gothenburg, Sweden) ( Figure 1). [19][20][21][22][23][24][25] The VIST G5® is a high-fidelity endovascular simulator which supports real clinical devices, table controls, and advanced haptic feedback. Tools are inserted into a control box to interact with a number of different computer software-generated clinical scenarios.…”

Cost effectiveness and the role of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in interventional radiology

“…ST can be particularly helpful to teach the basic skills rapidly, such as arterial puncture and selective catheterisation, allowing the trainee to concentrate on the more advanced aspects of the procedure. It reduces the burden on trainers, 74,75 and increases patient safety. ST can also be valuable for experienced operators to maintain and update their skills, with objective feedback.…”

Training in Interventional Radiology: A Simulation-Based Approach

“…The main benefit is that trainees reduce the learning curve for new procedures. 29,30 Using simulators, trainees can learn the basic catheter skills outside the cath lab, which allows them to focus their attention on the more advanced aspects of the procedure in a real case. This would overall reduce the number of procedures required to achieve proficiency.…”