Virtual reality as an engaging and enjoyable method for delivering emergency clinical simulation training: a prospective, interventional study of medical undergraduates.

BACKGROUND: It is a requirement that medical students are educated in emergencies and feel well prepared for practice as a doctor, yet national surveys show that many students feel underprepared. Virtual reality (VR), combined with 360-degree filming, provides an immersive, realistic, and interactive simulation experience. Unlike conventional in-person simulation, it is scalable with reduced workforce demands. We sought to compare students' engagement and enjoyment of VR simulation to desktop computer-based simulation. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, interventional, evaluation study. The study was carried out on final year medical students undertaking their Pre-Foundation Assistantship (n = 116) at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in London. We compared objective engagement, subjective engagement, and subjective enjoyment of VR simulation to desktop computer-based simulation using cardiac arrest and life-threatening asthma scenarios. Engagement was measured objectively using students' physiological parameters, including heart rate and eye tracking, and facilitator observations using the validated 'Behavioural Engagement Related to Instruction' (BERI) protocol. Students' subjective engagement and enjoyment levels were measured using a post-session survey. RESULTS: Students' maximum heart rates were significantly higher during VR simulation with a mean difference of 4.2 beats per minute (3.2 to 5.2, p < 0.001), and eye tracking showed they spent a significantly greater mean percentage of time of 6.4% (5.1 to 7.7, p < 0.001) focusing on the scenarios in VR compared to standard desktop. Qualitative data showed students enjoyed and felt engaged with the sessions, which provided a safe space for learning. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that students found VR simulations enjoyable and were more engaged compared to standard desktop simulation. This suggests that 360-degree VR simulation experiences provide students with immersive, realistic training, which is scalable, giving them the unique opportunity to manage emergencies and work within emergency teams, which would not typically occur during traditional training.

Metal-Phenolic Film Coated Quartz Crystal Microbalance as a Selective Sensor for Methanol Detection in Alcoholic Beverages.

The facile real-time monitoring of methyl content in fermented beverages is of fundamental significance in the alcohol and restaurant industry, since as little as 4 mL of methanol entering the blood may cause intoxication or blindness. So far, the practical applicability of available methanol sensors, including the piezoresonance analogs, is somewhat limited to laboratory use due to the complexity and bulkiness of the measuring equipment involving multistep procedures. This article introduces a hydrophobic metal-phenolic film-coated quartz crystal microbalance (MPF-QCM) as a novel streamlined detector of methanol in alcoholic drinks. Unlike other QCM-based alcohol sensors, our device operates under saturated vapor pressure conditions, permitting rapid detection of methyl fractions up to seven times below the tolerable levels in spirits (e.g., whisky) while effectively suppressing the cross-sensitivity to interfering chemical compounds such as water, petroleum ether or ammonium hydroxide. Furthermore, the good surface adhesion of metal-phenolic complexes endows the MPF-QCM with superior long-term stability, contributing to the repeatable and reversible physical sorption of the target analytes. These features, combined with the lack of mass flow controllers, valves and connecting pipes delivering the gas mixture, outline the likelihood for future design of a portable MPF-QCM prototype suitable to point-of-use analysis in drinking establishments.