Frontiers in Virtual Reality (Feb 2022)
Virtual Reality Medical Training for COVID-19 Swab Testing and Proper Handling of Personal Protective Equipment: Development and Usability
- Paul Zikas,
- Paul Zikas,
- Paul Zikas,
- Steve Kateros,
- Steve Kateros,
- Steve Kateros,
- Nick Lydatakis,
- Nick Lydatakis,
- Nick Lydatakis,
- Mike Kentros,
- Mike Kentros,
- Mike Kentros,
- Efstratios Geronikolakis,
- Efstratios Geronikolakis,
- Efstratios Geronikolakis,
- Manos Kamarianakis,
- Manos Kamarianakis,
- Manos Kamarianakis,
- Manos Kamarianakis,
- Giannis Evangelou,
- Giannis Evangelou,
- Giannis Evangelou,
- Ioanna Kartsonaki,
- Ioanna Kartsonaki,
- Achilles Apostolou,
- Achilles Apostolou,
- Achilles Apostolou,
- Tanja Birrenbach,
- Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos,
- Thomas C. Sauter,
- George Papapagiannakis,
- George Papapagiannakis,
- George Papapagiannakis
Affiliations
- Paul Zikas
- Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH)–Greece, Institute of Computer Science, Heraklion, Greece
- Paul Zikas
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Paul Zikas
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- Steve Kateros
- Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH)–Greece, Institute of Computer Science, Heraklion, Greece
- Steve Kateros
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Steve Kateros
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- Nick Lydatakis
- Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH)–Greece, Institute of Computer Science, Heraklion, Greece
- Nick Lydatakis
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Nick Lydatakis
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- Mike Kentros
- Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH)–Greece, Institute of Computer Science, Heraklion, Greece
- Mike Kentros
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Mike Kentros
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- Efstratios Geronikolakis
- Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH)–Greece, Institute of Computer Science, Heraklion, Greece
- Efstratios Geronikolakis
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Efstratios Geronikolakis
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- Manos Kamarianakis
- Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH)–Greece, Institute of Computer Science, Heraklion, Greece
- Manos Kamarianakis
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Manos Kamarianakis
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- Manos Kamarianakis
- Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Giannis Evangelou
- Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH)–Greece, Institute of Computer Science, Heraklion, Greece
- Giannis Evangelou
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Giannis Evangelou
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- Ioanna Kartsonaki
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Ioanna Kartsonaki
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- Achilles Apostolou
- Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH)–Greece, Institute of Computer Science, Heraklion, Greece
- Achilles Apostolou
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Achilles Apostolou
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- Tanja Birrenbach
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Thomas C. Sauter
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- George Papapagiannakis
- Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH)–Greece, Institute of Computer Science, Heraklion, Greece
- George Papapagiannakis
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- George Papapagiannakis
- ORamaVR, Heraklion, Greece
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/frvir.2021.740197
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 2
Abstract
Efficient and riskless training of healthcare professionals is imperative as the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic still rages. Recent advances in the field of Virtual Reality (VR), both in software and hardware level, unlocked the true potential of VR medical education (Hooper et al., The Journal of Arthroplasty, 2019, 34 (10), 2,278–2,283; Almarzooq et al., Virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a disruptive technology in graduate medical education, 2020; Wayne et al., Medical education in the time of COVID-19, 2020; Birrenbach et al., JMIR Serious Games, 2021, 9 (4), e29586). The main objective of this work is to describe the algorithms, models and architecture of a medical virtual reality simulation aiming to train medical personnel and volunteers in properly performing Covid-19 swab testing and using protective measures, based on a world-standard hygiene protocol. The learning procedure is carried out in a novel and gamified way that facilitates skill transfer from virtual to real world, with performance that matches and even exceeds traditional methods, as shown in detail in (Birrenbach et al., JMIR Serious Games, 2021, 9 (4), e29586). In this work we are providing all computational science methods, models together with the necessary algorithms and architecture to realize this ambitions and complex task verified via an in-depth usability study with year 3–6 medical school students.
Keywords
- virtual reality
- medical training
- COVID-19
- virtual reality application
- effective training
- swab testing
