Trevor Dorey, Jilian Nicholas, Steven Daniel Leydorf, Samantha Scarola, Andrew Broda, Justin Turcotte, Terri Ridel, Alex Gandsas
{"title":"Assessing Immersive Virtual Reality as Learning Tool for Surgical Trainees.","authors":"Trevor Dorey, Jilian Nicholas, Steven Daniel Leydorf, Samantha Scarola, Andrew Broda, Justin Turcotte, Terri Ridel, Alex Gandsas","doi":"10.4293/JSLS.2025.00021","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objectives: </strong>As the availability of consumer-level virtual reality (VR) technology increases, an opportunity to enhance surgical education emerges. This study sought to evaluate the performance of immersive VR (iVR) against standard 2-dimensional (2D) training videos, vis-à-vis procedure knowledge, procedural confidence, and first-time hands-on performance, along with assessment of the user experience with iVR.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants naïve to the procedure for insertion of a central venous catheter underwent baseline assessment of their knowledge and confidence related to that procedure. They were then randomly assigned, in a 1:1:1 fashion, to 1 of 3 formats of a central line training video; standard 2D, desktop VR and iVR. Participants completed a postintervention knowledge and confidence assessment, as well as a live, hands-on simulation of the procedure. The simulation was scored by 2 blinded observers. Participants were also asked about their subjective experience with VR.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Forty-three participants completed the full study protocol. With regard to knowledge and confidence assessment, using an immersive format was deemed more engaging by all participants, and did not negatively impact knowledge acquisition or procedural confidence. There was a trend toward significantly higher performance on hands-on simulation for participants training using an iVR format (<i>P</i> = .054).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>iVR is a useful adjunct in procedural training. It is well-tolerated by users and more engaging than 2D video. It may improve hands-on skills acquisition without negatively impacting knowledge acquisition or artificially inflating procedural confidence. Larger scale studies are needed to assess this technology more thoroughly.</p>","PeriodicalId":17679,"journal":{"name":"JSLS : Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons","volume":"29 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12061070/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"JSLS : Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4293/JSLS.2025.00021","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/5/8 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"SURGERY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background and objectives: As the availability of consumer-level virtual reality (VR) technology increases, an opportunity to enhance surgical education emerges. This study sought to evaluate the performance of immersive VR (iVR) against standard 2-dimensional (2D) training videos, vis-à-vis procedure knowledge, procedural confidence, and first-time hands-on performance, along with assessment of the user experience with iVR.
Methods: Participants naïve to the procedure for insertion of a central venous catheter underwent baseline assessment of their knowledge and confidence related to that procedure. They were then randomly assigned, in a 1:1:1 fashion, to 1 of 3 formats of a central line training video; standard 2D, desktop VR and iVR. Participants completed a postintervention knowledge and confidence assessment, as well as a live, hands-on simulation of the procedure. The simulation was scored by 2 blinded observers. Participants were also asked about their subjective experience with VR.
Results: Forty-three participants completed the full study protocol. With regard to knowledge and confidence assessment, using an immersive format was deemed more engaging by all participants, and did not negatively impact knowledge acquisition or procedural confidence. There was a trend toward significantly higher performance on hands-on simulation for participants training using an iVR format (P = .054).
Conclusions: iVR is a useful adjunct in procedural training. It is well-tolerated by users and more engaging than 2D video. It may improve hands-on skills acquisition without negatively impacting knowledge acquisition or artificially inflating procedural confidence. Larger scale studies are needed to assess this technology more thoroughly.
期刊介绍:
JSLS, Journal of the Society of Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeons publishes original scientific articles on basic science and technical topics in all the fields involved with laparoscopic, robotic, and minimally invasive surgery. CRSLS, MIS Case Reports from SLS is dedicated to the publication of Case Reports in the field of minimally invasive surgery. The journals seek to advance our understandings and practice of minimally invasive, image-guided surgery by providing a forum for all relevant disciplines and by promoting the exchange of information and ideas across specialties.