Researchers working out of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland recently conducted a study detailing how VR could be a more effective tool for surgical training compared to conventional reading and video methods as well as a practical alternative to physical simulation.
Published in the Journal of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons Global Research & Reviews, the study, “Evaluation of a Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis Virtual Reality Surgical Simulation for the Orthopaedic Trainee“ had 21 orthopaedic trainees (9 junior residents & 12 senior medical students) using Osso VR’s medical training platform to perform a slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) screw fixation procedure in VR.
Participants were graded on a variety of assessments, including surgical time, screw accuracy, radiographic accuracy, surgical technique, and more. The results were fairly surprising, with VR training being subjectively higher-rated than conventional reading and video methods.