Can mixed reality technologies teach surgical skills better than traditional methods? A prospective randomised feasibility study
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Published version
Author(s)
Martin, Guy
Guha, Payal
Lawson, Jason
Minty, Iona
Kinross, James
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
Basic surgical skills teaching is often delivered with didactic audio-visual content, and new digital technologies may allow more engaging and effective ways of teaching to be developed. The Microsoft HoloLens 2 (HL2) is a multi-functional mixed reality headset. This prospective feasibility study sought to assess the device as a tool for enhancing technical surgical skills training.
Methods
A prospective randomised feasibility study was conducted. 36 novice medical students were trained to perform a basic arteriotomy and closure using a synthetic model. Participants were randomised to receive a structured surgical skills tutorial via a bespoke mixed reality HL2 tutorial (n = 18), or via a standard video-based tutorial (n = 18). Proficiency scores were assessed by blinded examiners using a validated objective scoring system and participant feedback collected.
Results
The HL2 group showed significantly greater improvement in overall technical proficiency compared to the video group (10.1 vs. 6.89, p = 0.0076), and a greater consistency in skill progression with a significantly narrower range of scores (SD 2.48 vs. 4.03, p = 0.026). Participant feedback showed the HL2 technology to be more interactive and engaging with minimal device related problems experienced.
Conclusions
This study has demonstrated that mixed reality technology may provide a higher quality educational experience, improved skill progression and greater consistency in learning when compared to traditional teaching methodologies for basic surgical skills. Further work is required to refine, translate, and evaluate the scalability and applicability of the technology across a broad range of skills-based disciplines.
Basic surgical skills teaching is often delivered with didactic audio-visual content, and new digital technologies may allow more engaging and effective ways of teaching to be developed. The Microsoft HoloLens 2 (HL2) is a multi-functional mixed reality headset. This prospective feasibility study sought to assess the device as a tool for enhancing technical surgical skills training.
Methods
A prospective randomised feasibility study was conducted. 36 novice medical students were trained to perform a basic arteriotomy and closure using a synthetic model. Participants were randomised to receive a structured surgical skills tutorial via a bespoke mixed reality HL2 tutorial (n = 18), or via a standard video-based tutorial (n = 18). Proficiency scores were assessed by blinded examiners using a validated objective scoring system and participant feedback collected.
Results
The HL2 group showed significantly greater improvement in overall technical proficiency compared to the video group (10.1 vs. 6.89, p = 0.0076), and a greater consistency in skill progression with a significantly narrower range of scores (SD 2.48 vs. 4.03, p = 0.026). Participant feedback showed the HL2 technology to be more interactive and engaging with minimal device related problems experienced.
Conclusions
This study has demonstrated that mixed reality technology may provide a higher quality educational experience, improved skill progression and greater consistency in learning when compared to traditional teaching methodologies for basic surgical skills. Further work is required to refine, translate, and evaluate the scalability and applicability of the technology across a broad range of skills-based disciplines.
Date Issued
2023-03-03
Date Acceptance
2023-02-24
Citation
BMC Medical Education, 2023, 23, pp.1-8
ISSN
1472-6920
Publisher
BioMed Central
Start Page
1
End Page
8
Journal / Book Title
BMC Medical Education
Volume
23
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and
the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this
article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included
in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will
need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The
Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available
in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and
the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this
article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included
in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will
need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The
Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available
in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
License URL
Identifier
https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-023-04122-6
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
144
Date Publish Online
2023-03-03