FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW AUGMENTED REALITY FOR MEDICAL TRAINING

The physician to population ratio is beginning to plateau and is expected to decline right as the
U S elderly and more medically needy population is on the rise Thus the physician workforce
may not be able fulfill the U S populationandapos s demand In fact in the United States may face
shortages of primary care physicians and medical specialists a total of
too few doctors Other projections estimate that the supply of US physicians may decrease even
lower with a shortfall as high as over by Furthermore the amount of quality time
medical students have to learn procedures has drawn concern from researchers ArchieMD has
been developing a medical simulation augmented reality system to combine multimedia
technologies with manikins to enable internal anatomy overlays on medical trainers ArchieMD
developed the technology based on a human manikin task trainer combined with D and D
anatomic visual models presented on a screen Using augmented reality tracking ArchieMDandapos s
D imagery of the bodyandapos s internal anatomy was superimposed over the view of the user
providing additional D didactic information while using a task trainer manikin One of the key
limitations of the approach is that it provides a rd person Point of View POV instead of a st
person POV While the rd person POV approach has utility for group activities and
demonstration it is of lesser value to the individual practicing the procedure The use of a st
person POV would enable seamless integration into medical training This could be enabled
through the use of augmented reality glasses or goggles Recently a number of exciting
developments have occurred with respect to optical see through augmented reality glasses and
goggles Phase I SBIR project ArchieMD developed a st person POV MR trainer for Central
venous catheter placement which was evaluated at the University of Michigan for preliminary
utility and feasibility in medical education During Phase II we will continue the work by
completing the following specific aims
Specific Aim Continue development of the st person POV Mixed Reality trainer to
include
o Expanding procedures to incorporates a full range of important medical
procedures including IV and arterial line placement neuraxial techniques
spinals epidurals peripheral nerve blocks paracentesis thoracentesis and
chest tube insertion
o Optimize st person POV MR trainer for improved performance and alignment
Specific Aim Conduct iterative usability testing with the expanded st person POV
Mixed Reality trainer
Specific Aim Conduct a randomized controlled trial to assess the ability of the st
person POV Mixed Reality to improve procedural skills as compared to traditional
manikin trainers
Public Health Narrative
This proposed project could benefit public health by providing a novel method for efficiently and
effectively training medical students key clinical skills thus improving the knowledge and ability
of our nation s future physician workforce