Design, assembly and validation of a low-cost, high-fidelity simulator for heart exploration.

INTRODUCTION: Heart exploration is an essential clinical competence that requires continuous training and exposure. Low availability and accessibility to patients with heart disease constitutes a barrier to acquiring this competence. Inadequate cardiac auscultation skills in medical students, residents, and graduate physicians have been documented. OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a low-cost, high-fidelity simulator for heart exploration. METHODS: A low-cost, high-fidelity heart examination simulator capable of reproducing normal cardiac sounds was designed and developed. Subsequently, the simulator was validated by a group of experts who gave their opinion according to a Likert scale. RESULTS: Ninety-four percent agreed that the simulator motivates the learning of heart exploration, and 92 % considered it to be a realistic model; 91 % considered that the simulator is an attractive tool to reinforce learning and 98 % recommended its further use. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the simulator facilitates the acquisition of skills and stimulates learning in the student, which can be attributed to repeated practice, longer exposure time and cognitive interaction.

INTRODUCCIÓN: La exploración cardiaca es una competencia clínica fundamental que requiere exposición o entrenamiento continuo. La baja disponibilidad y accesibilidad de pacientes con patología cardiaca constituye una barrera para adquirir esta competencia. Se han documentado inadecuadas habilidades de auscultación cardiaca en estudiantes de medicina, residentes y médicos graduados. OBJETIVO: Elaborar y validar un simulador de alta fidelidad y bajo costo para exploración cardiaca. MÉTODOS: Se diseñó y elaboró un simulador para exploración cardiaca, realista y de bajo costo capaz de reproducir ruidos cardiacos normales. Posteriormente se realizó la validación del simulador por un grupo de expertos que emitieron su opinión de acuerdo con una escala tipo Likert. RESULTADOS: El 94 % afirmó que el simulador motiva el aprendizaje de la exploración cardiaca y 92 % lo consideró un modelo realista; 91 % consideró que el simulador es una herramienta atractiva para fortalecer el aprendizaje y 98 % recomendó seguir utilizándolo. CONCLUSIONES: El uso del simulador facilita la adquisición de competencias y estimula el aprendizaje en el estudiante, lo cual puede ser atribuido a la práctica deliberada, a un mayor tiempo de exposición y a la interacción cognitiva.

Diseño, elaboración y validación de un simulador realista y de bajo costo para exploración cardiaca / Design, assembly and validation of a low-cost, high-fidelity simulator for heart exploration

Resumen Introducción: La exploración cardiaca es una competencia clínica fundamental que requiere exposición o entrenamiento continuo. La baja disponibilidad y accesibilidad de pacientes con patología cardiaca constituye una barrera para adquirir esta competencia. Se han documentado inadecuadas habilidades de auscultación cardiaca en estudiantes de medicina, residentes y médicos graduados. Objetivo: Elaborar y validar un simulador de alta fidelidad y bajo costo para exploración cardiaca. Métodos: Se diseñó y elaboró un simulador para exploración cardiaca, realista y de bajo costo capaz de reproducir ruidos cardiacos normales. Posteriormente se realizó la validación del simulador por un grupo de expertos que emitieron su opinión de acuerdo con una escala tipo Likert. Resultados: El 94 % afirmó que el simulador motiva el aprendizaje de la exploración cardiaca y 92 % lo consideró un modelo realista; 91 % consideró que el simulador es una herramienta atractiva para fortalecer el aprendizaje y 98 % recomendó seguir utilizándolo. Conclusiones: El uso del simulador facilita la adquisición de competencias y estimula el aprendizaje en el estudiante, lo cual puede ser atribuido a la práctica deliberada, a un mayor tiempo de exposición y a la interacción cognitiva.

Abstract Introduction: Heart exploration is an essential clinical competence that requires continuous training and exposure. Low availability and accessibility to patients with heart disease constitutes a barrier to acquiring this competence. Inadequate cardiac auscultation skills in medical students, residents, and graduate physicians have been documented. Objective: To develop and validate a low-cost, high-fidelity simulator for heart exploration. Methods: A low-cost, high-fidelity heart examination simulator capable of reproducing normal cardiac sounds was designed and developed. Subsequently, the simulator was validated by a group of experts who gave their opinion according to a Likert scale. Results: Ninety-four percent agreed that the simulator motivates the learning of heart exploration, and 92 % considered it to be a realistic model; 91 % considered that the simulator is an attractive tool to reinforce learning and 98 % recommended its further use. Conclusions: The use of the simulator facilitates the acquisition of skills and stimulates learning in the student, which can be attributed to repeated practice, longer exposure time and cognitive interaction.

Development of a Low-cost, High-fidelity Skin Model for Suturing.

BACKGROUND: In a survey of students at our institution, suturing was the most desired workshop for simulation; however, cost, quality, and availability of skin pads is often prohibitive for suturing workshops. In-hospital fabrication may be utilized to manufacture noncommercial, high-fidelity, and low-cost simulation models. We describe the production, value, and face validation of our simulated skin model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using an in-hospital fabrication laboratory, we have developed a model for skin and subcutaneous tissue. Our model uses a variety of commercially available materials to simulate the epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous fat, fascia, and muscle. A cost analysis was performed by comparing it with other commonly used commercial skin models. Expert surgeons assessed the material characteristics, durability, and overall quality of our model in comparison with other commercial models. RESULTS: The materials cost of our novel skin pad model was 30.9% of the mean cost of five different commonly used foam and silicone-based commercial skin models. This low-cost model is more durable than the commercial models, does not require skin pad holders, and is of higher fidelity than the commercial products. In addition to skin closure, our model may be used to simulate fascial closure or fasciotomy. CONCLUSIONS: Model creation using in-hospital workspaces is an effective strategy to decrease cost while improving quality of surgical simulation. Our methods for creation of an inexpensive and high-fidelity skin pad may be purposed for several soft tissue models.

Integrating Soft Set Theory and Fuzzy Linguistic Model to Evaluate the Performance of Training Simulation Systems.

The advancement of high technologies and the arrival of the information age have caused changes to the modern warfare. The military forces of many countries have replaced partially real training drills with training simulation systems to achieve combat readiness. However, considerable types of training simulation systems are used in military settings. In addition, differences in system set up time, functions, the environment, and the competency of system operators, as well as incomplete information have made it difficult to evaluate the performance of training simulation systems. To address the aforementioned problems, this study integrated analytic hierarchy process, soft set theory, and the fuzzy linguistic representation model to evaluate the performance of various training simulation systems. Furthermore, importance-performance analysis was adopted to examine the influence of saving costs and training safety of training simulation systems. The findings of this study are expected to facilitate applying military training simulation systems, avoiding wasting of resources (e.g., low utility and idle time), and providing data for subsequent applications and analysis. To verify the method proposed in this study, the numerical examples of the performance evaluation of training simulation systems were adopted and compared with the numerical results of an AHP and a novel AHP-based ranking technique. The results verified that not only could expert-provided questionnaire information be fully considered to lower the repetition rate of performance ranking, but a two-dimensional graph could also be used to help administrators allocate limited resources, thereby enhancing the investment benefits and training effectiveness of a training simulation system.

A Cost-Effective Virtual Environment for Simulating and Training Powered Wheelchairs Manoeuvres.

Control of a powered wheelchair is often not intuitive, making training of new users a challenging and sometimes hazardous task. Collisions, due to a lack of experience can result in injury for the user and other individuals. By conducting training activities in virtual reality (VR), we can potentially improve driving skills whilst avoiding the risks inherent to the real world. However, until recently VR technology has been expensive and limited the commercial feasibility of a general training solution. We describe Wheelchair-Rift, a cost effective prototype simulator that makes use of the Oculus Rift head mounted display and the Leap Motion hand tracking device. It has been assessed for face validity by a panel of experts from a local Posture and Mobility Service. Initial results augur well for our cost-effective training solution.