Abstract
Background. Virtual reality-based surgery training has become a promising trend in the sector of clinical education. Prior studies have confirmed the effectiveness of VR-based surgical simulators on training surgeons. Most existing papers employing subjective methods explored the students’ overall perceptions of surgical skills. However, few studies, from the multidimension perspective of learning performance, investigate how VR improves surgery skills. Participants. 37 college students were recruited in comparative experimental research. The experimental group was equipped with a VR + haptic surgical simulator, while the VR simulator without haptic feedback was used for the control group. Method. The study resorted to physiological approaches to investigate the influence of the VR laparoscopic surgical training system on students’ performance. Results. The experimental group scored higher than the control group in flow experience and has better performance in the four dimensions of operation evaluation skills. Conclusion. The study deposited that learners are more likely to exert to flow experience in a learning situation with haptic feedback, which will further improve medical students’ performance.
Highlights
Virtual reality technology has revolutionized traditional education, and it has involved medicine, architecture, and other disciplines
virtual reality (VR) Intelligent Medical Training System. e laparoscopy simulator (UniVRLap) employed in this research was developed by the State Key Laboratory of Virtual Reality Technology and Systems, Beihang University. e computation module is a high-performance PC connected with a touchscreen monitor (1920_1080 dpi). e hardware parameters are as follows: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8500 CPU @3.00 GHz with 6 cores and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with 6 GB memory. e software is run on Windows 10 64 bits professional version. e haptic devices employed in the experiment are produced by American 3D System Company, and the devices can control the surgical instruments with 6 degrees of freedoms (DOFs) [35]. e force feedback workspace is approximately 6.4 ∗ 4.8 ∗ 2.8 inches
Two main research questions would be investigated. e first is the impact of VR haptic feedback on the flow experience for medical students. e second is the impact of VR haptic feedback on their skill performance
Summary
Virtual reality technology has revolutionized traditional education, and it has involved medicine, architecture, and other disciplines. E traditional training methods of laparoscopic surgery mainly focus on video learning and animal tests. E combination of VR haptic feedback would bring about an innovative approach to promote students’ learning outcomes and perceptions and practically improve the attractiveness and authenticity in surgical training [3]. Few studies, from the multidimension perspective of learning performance, investigate how VR improves surgery skills. E study resorted to physiological approaches to investigate the influence of the VR laparoscopic surgical training system on students’ performance. E experimental group scored higher than the control group in flow experience and has better performance in the four dimensions of operation evaluation skills. E study deposited that learners are more likely to exert to flow experience in a learning situation with haptic feedback, which will further improve medical students’ performance Conclusion. e study deposited that learners are more likely to exert to flow experience in a learning situation with haptic feedback, which will further improve medical students’ performance
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