Anatomy-augmented visual training on mobile devices for rapid dissemination of best practices during pandemics

Abstract
ArchieMD is developing a mobile medical training application that will facilitate rapid dissemination of
continuously evolving knowledge and procedural skills to nurses, which will allow staff to quickly expand
capabilities to meet needs in the event of a pandemic. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has put an immense
strain on health care systems worldwide, and the nursing shortage—which long predated the onset of the
pandemic—has further exacerbated the challenge of human resource management as hospitals struggle to take
on the growing number of patients. As a result, many nurses are being re-allocated from other departments and
out-of-hospital positions, assuming new responsibilities for which they have limited training, due to time and
resource constraints and the need for instructor oversight, which places an additional burden on senior staff.
Furthermore, standard-of-care procedures may quickly become outdated as clinicians learn more about the
novel disease, and as hospitals are compelled to modify procedures to better manage limited resources. To
close this gap, ArchieMD proposes to develop a mobile application that will support self-guided instruction,
training, and testing on key respiratory therapy procedures. The mobile app format supports accessibility and
rapid roll-out of updated procedures, and ArchieMDandapos;s dynamic, anatomy-augmented visuals have been
demonstrated to significantly improve learning comprehension. For this Phase I project, ArchieMD will 1) Develop
simulations for oxygen therapy and CPAP administration, incorporating realistic internal anatomy visuals to
support deeper learning, and 2) Carry out a user study to evaluate the performance of the medical training
application in transferring knowledge and skills in these procedures. Additive instructional, training, and testing
modules will leverage incorporated visuals to efficiently convey contextual information in early learning stages
and support long-term retention of concepts. By including dynamic internal anatomy visuals over the virtual
patient, users are able to gain a deeper understanding of the procedureandapos;s real-time impact on the patientandapos;s bodily
functions and health outcomes. Collaboration with nursing students at the University of Michigan for the user
study will demonstrate usability and functionality of the application, as well as inform future development needs.
Successful completion of these specific aims will provide a proof-of-concept for the proposed training platform
and result in development of a minimum viable product. As envisioned, ongoing development will result in a
commercially viable mobile application with a suite of medical procedure training modules, along with in-hospital
task managing features that will assist with distribution of re-allocated staff based on training module completion
status. This technology will support self-guided, just-in-time training to reduce burdens on upper-level staff and
expand the capabilities of the nursing workforce to tend to patients during a current or future pandemic. These
easily accessed training simulations will result in improved clinical skills, a flexible taskforce, and ultimately,
better patient care.Narrative
In the midst of the current pandemic, human resource limitations have compelled hospitals to re-allocate nursing
staff to meet the needs of the overwhelming number of hospital-admitted patients infected with COVID-19.
However, these personnel may have limited training in key clinical procedures such as oxygen therapy and
CPAP administration; systematic training and oversight from already overburdened senior staff is infeasible; and
there is no efficient method to disseminate new information on evolving standard-of-care procedures. ArchieMD
is developing a mobile medical training application with anatomy-augmented visuals that will provide easy access
to high-fidelity, self-guided training, as well as rapid, synchronized roll-out of procedure updates to nurses,
ultimately leading to improved human resource management and patient care during a pandemic.