BackgroundVentricular puncture is a common procedure in neurosurgery and the first that resident must learn. Ongoing education is critical to improving patient outcomes. However, training at the expense of potential risk to patients warrants new and safer training methods for residents.MethodsAn augmented reality (AR) simulator for the practice of ventricular punctures was designed. It consists of a navigation system with a virtual 3D projection of the anatomy over a 3D‐printed patient model. Forty‐eight participants from neurosurgery staff performed two free‐hand ventricular punctures before and after a training session.ResultsParticipants achieved enhanced accuracy in reaching the target at the Monro foramen after practicing with the system. Additional metrics revealed significantly better trajectories after the training.ConclusionThe study confirms the feasibility of AR as a training tool. This motivates future work towards standardising new educative methodologies in neurosurgery.

Spinal mobility assessment is essential for the diagnostic of patients with ankylosing spondylitis. BASMI is a routine clinical evaluation of the spine; its measurements are made with goniometers and tape measures, implying systematic errors, subjectivity, and low sensitivity. Therefore, it is crucial to develop better mobility assessment methods. The design, implementation, and evaluation of a novel system for assessing the entire spine’s motion are presented. It consists of 16 magnetic and inertial measurement units (MIMUs) communicated wirelessly with a computer. The system evaluates the patient’s movements by implementing a sensor fusion of the triaxial gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer signals using a Kalman filter. Fifteen healthy participants were assessed with the system through six movements involving the entire spine to calculate continuous kinematics and maximum range of motion (RoM). The intrarater reliability was computed over the observed RoM, showing excellent reliability levels (intraclass correlation >0.9) in five of the six movements. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the system for further clinical studies with patients. The system has the potential to improve the BASMI method. To the best of our knowledge, our system involves the highest number of sensors, thus providing more objective information than current similar systems.

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