Study validates effectiveness of VR training for surgeons

MedTech News: The Imperial College London recently conducted an independent study of Johnson & Johnson Institute’s VR (virtual reality) training module on the Anterior Approach to Hip Surgery to illustrate how it can help improve training at the residency level.

In this randomised controlled trial, surgical trainees were either provided conventional training, which includes workshops, lectures, videos from experts, observing and assisting in real surgery, or a five-week VR curriculum. This enabled surgeons to not just practice VR, but also be immediately assessed in VR with feedback and analytics.

The study was published recently in Bone and Joint Journal, showing 83% of surgeons trained on the VR module were able to perform the surgery in a lab setting with minimal guidance, whereas none of the traditionally trained surgeons were able to do the same.

Data from the study shows that even the lowest-scoring VR trained surgeons performed better than the best non-VR-trained surgeon on the module.

“Virtual reality has had a major impact on our surgeons because it mimics a real operating room,” said Dr. Kartik Logishetty, the study’s author and clinical research fellow at Imperial College London. “The environment felt and looked just like real surgery.”

“The data from this study is very promising and propelling us to go even further to scale our VR efforts as evidenced in our two new strategic partnerships with Oculus and Osso VR,” explains Sandra Humbles, Vice President of Global Education Solutions for Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices. “We are now forging ahead with a mission to make VR technology available to surgeons in hospitals to help improve patient outcomes around the world.”

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