The Use of Virtual Reality in Surgical Training: Implications for Education, Patient Safety, and Global Health Equity

Abstract

As medicine becomes more complex, there is pressure for new and more innovative educational methods. Given the economic burden associated with in-person simulation, healthcare, including the realm of surgical education, has begun employing virtual reality (VR). Potential benefits of the addition of VR to surgical learning include increased pre-operative resident exposure to surgical techniques and procedures and better patient safety outcomes. However, these new technological advances, such as VR, may not replicate organic tissues or accurately simulate medical care and surgical scenarios, creating unrealistic pseudo-environments. Similarly, while advancements have been made, there are ongoing disparities concerning the utilization of these technologies. These disparities include aspects such as the availability of stable internet connections and the cost of implementing these technologies. In accordance with other innovative technologies, VR possesses upfront economic costs that may preclude equitable use in different academic centers around the world. As such, VR may further widen educational quality between high- and low-resource nations. This analysis integrates recent innovations in VR technology with existing discourse on global health and surgical equality. In doing so, it offers preliminary guidance to ensure that the implementation of VR occurs in an equitable, safe, and sustainable fashion.

A Comparison of One- and Two-Handed Gesture User Interfaces in Virtual Reality—A Task-Based Approach

“…However, for those use case scenarios, the systems would have to be much more accurate and robust than the technology is capable of right now due to issues such as occlusion, lighting limitations, network connectivity, and hand shape differences in humans, among others. Additionally, there are currently unsolved issues such as the lack of correct haptic/force feedback which would be able to generate, e.g., the muscle memory required in surgery [73].…”