Virtual Reality Medical Training for COVID-19 Swab Testing and Proper Handling of Personal Protective Equipment: Development and Usability

Paul Zikas,Aristomenis K Exadaktylos,Efstratios Geronikolakis,Steve Kateros,Achilles Apostolou,Thomas C Sauter,George Papapagiannakis,Tanja Birrenbach,Ioanna Kartsonaki,Giannis Evangelou,Mike Kentros,Manos Kamarianakis,Nick Lydatakis

doi:10.3389/frvir.2021.740197

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.

Highlights

SARS-CoV-2, a virus first detected in Wuhan, China on December 2019, swiftly spread worldwide and caused the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
We demonstrated good usability of the Covid19 VR Strikes Back” (CVRSB) application in training medical students in the correct performance of hand hygiene, use of personal protective equipment, and execution of obtaining a nasopharyngeal swab specimen
Satisfaction measured in the After-Scenario Questionnaire (ASQ) and User Satisfaction Evaluation Questionnaire (USEQ) was even higher compared to traditional learning methods

Summary

Introduction

SARS-CoV-2, a virus first detected in Wuhan, China on December 2019, swiftly spread worldwide and caused the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Having infected tens of millions and causing more than 2.4 million confirmed deaths, this is an unprecedented crisis that humanity faces. Healthcare professionals around the globe strive against the virus, most of the time without sufficient resources. One of the most important issues that the impaired healthcare system has to deal with is the effective and secure training of medical personnel, medical students, physicians, nurses and even. Virtual Reality Medical Training for COVID-19 volunteers. Courses in medical schools were canceled or became virtual to protect the undergraduate students, leading to sub-optimal training. Active medical staff were diminished and exhausted, as doctors and their teams got infected and quarantined afterwards, as the protocol dictates

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