Tech supplier GigXR, through a partnership with the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT, has launched its first augmented reality module, providing holographic scenarios for common respiratory conditions and emergencies.
The mixed reality application called HoloScenarios, includes asthma, anaphylaxis, pulmonary embolism and pneumonia training scenarios, that have been developed with partners in Cambridge. The university has also initiated a research programme into the development, with an aim to produce more scenarios and create benchmarks and criteria for evaluating learner and patient outcomes using mixed reality.
The tech means instructors can place holographic patients and medical equipment into a training environment for users to see both the physical space and the digital overlay of the holograms at same time, whether in a simulation, classroom or at home. Instructors can change the scenario, for a patient to improve or so a learner can see a deterioration and intervene.
Arun Gupta, Director of Postgraduate Education, Cambridge University Health Partnership, said: “Mixed reality is increasingly recognised as a useful method of simulator training. As institutions scale procurement, the demand for platforms that offer utility and ease of mixed reality learning management is rapidly expanding.
“GigXR has already enabled instructors to better prepare learners with medically accurate simulation for observation and assessment. With HoloScenarios, we’re helping to evolve education from a mentorship-based model to one where students around the world can have equal access to top-flight expertise for mastering invention-based clinical skills.”
Mary Archibald, Director of Operations, Surgical Training Centre, Medical Education Manager, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “Partnering with GigXR allows us to create robust training without the heavy resource demands of traditional simulation, which can make immersive training financially prohibitive due to costs for maintaining simulation centres, their equipment and the faculty and staff hours to operate the labs and hire and train patient actors.”
