A Novel Serious Game as an Alternative for Teaching Basic Point-of-Care Transthoracic Echocardiography Skills

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

120 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-10-03

Study Completion Date

2024-07-30

Brief Summary

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The goal of this clinical trial is to compare different digital learning methods for teaching basic skills in point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography to medical students.

The main question it aims to answer is:

• Is a novel digital learning tool, such as a serious video game, non-inferior to traditional ultrasound simulator teaching methods in the context of basic point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography skills training?

Participants will train basic point-of-care ultrasound skills using either a traditional basic ultrasound simulator course or the serious video game "Underwater". Both methods focus on training hand-eye coordination, which is particularly important in transthoracic echocardiography. To compare the performance of the participants, a baseline assessment will be performed before and a final assessment after the two-week training period.

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Detailed Description

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Point-of-care ultrasound education follows non-standardized teaching and learning methods. In many cases, ultrasound is practiced directly on patients without proper training, or ultrasound simulators are used. However, these simulators are expensive to purchase and are not always readily available to students. In addition, there are a growing number of new digital tools, such as serious video games, that aim to deliver the same content in a more accessible and cost-effective manner. However, in the field of point-of-care echocardiography, there is still little scientific evidence to support their use.

This single-blind, prospective, randomized, controlled, non-inferiority trial aims to demonstrate the non-inferiority of a serious video game compared to conventional simulator-based training of basic echocardiography skills to make ultrasound training more accessible to every trainee.

Only medical students who already have the necessary anatomical knowledge but no experience with ultrasound diagnostics will be recruited to participate in this study. Participants will attend a 90-minute workshop to learn the basics of point-of-care echocardiography. They will then be required to perform standardized transthoracic echocardiography before and after a two-week training period, which will be scored by blinded experts. During the training phase, one group will practice the hand-eye coordination required for echocardiography using an ultrasound simulator, while the second group will practice the same content using a serious video game. In addition, questionnaires will be used to collect additional data from the participants.

Conditions

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Echocardiography Education, Medical

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Participants will attend a 90-minute workshop to learn the basics of point-of-care echocardiography. They will then be required to perform standardized transthoracic echocardiography before and after a two-week training period, which will be scored by blinded experts. During the training phase, one group will practice the hand-eye coordination required for echocardiography using an ultrasound simulator, while the second group will practice the same content using a serious video game. In addition, questionnaires will be used to collect additional data from the participants.

Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

The POCUS examinations are videotaped without the possibility of identifying the participant. A camera visually records the movements of the ultrasound probe and the participant's hand, while a pen is used to mark the appropriate structures on the frozen ultrasound images. The audio recordings of these videos are transcribed and presented to the evaluators in written form only. After all participants have completed the baseline assessment, these two videos from each participant will be edited together and can be presented to the experts for evaluation as a compact video along with the transcribed audio recordings. In addition, the videos and audio transcripts presented to the experts will be labeled with randomly generated numbers for scoring.

Study Groups

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Simulator for Basic Ultrasound Skills

Basic course of a traditional ultrasound simulator focusing on hand-eye coordination

Group Type OTHER

Simulator for Basic Ultrasound Skills

Intervention Type OTHER

Basic course of a traditional ultrasound simulator focusing on hand-eye coordination

Serious Video Game

Serious video game "Underwater" that focuses on hand-eye coordination training using a 3D-printed ultrasound probe for maneuvering.

Group Type OTHER

Serious Video Game

Intervention Type OTHER

The serious video game "Underwater" uses a 3D-printed ultrasound probe for maneuvering. During gameplay, coins must be collected in an underwater world using the aforementioned simulated ultrasound probe. The main focus of this game is to improve hand-eye coordination while using an ultrasound probe.

Interventions

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Simulator for Basic Ultrasound Skills

Basic course of a traditional ultrasound simulator focusing on hand-eye coordination

Intervention Type OTHER

Serious Video Game

The serious video game "Underwater" uses a 3D-printed ultrasound probe for maneuvering. During gameplay, coins must be collected in an underwater world using the aforementioned simulated ultrasound probe. The main focus of this game is to improve hand-eye coordination while using an ultrasound probe.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Medical student at the Medical University of Vienna (Medicine Degree Program)
* ≥18 years
* Basic knowledge of anatomy (completed Block 2 of the MUV curriculum)