Quantification of Student Radiographic Patient Positioning Using an Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Radiography Training
• Virtual Reality Simulation

Background:

• Immersive virtual reality (VR) offers novel methods for anatomical visualization and performance quantification.
• VR simulation provides real-time positional feedback, crucial for healthcare professionals to improve patient safety, such as minimizing radiation exposure.
• This study quantitatively assessed the impact of VR simulation on training student radiographers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of VR simulation in training radiography students.
• To compare the performance of students trained with VR simulation versus conventional methods.
• To assess improvements in patient positioning accuracy for X-ray imaging.

Main Methods:

• 76 first-year radiography students were divided into two groups.
• Group 1 trained using CETSOL VR Clinic software; Group 2 used conventional simulated role-play.
• Performance was assessed via posterior-anterior and oblique hand X-ray positioning tasks on a patient model, compared to expert radiographers.

Main Results:

• The VR group showed significant improvements: 36% in digit separation (P < 0.001), 11% in palm flatness (P ≤ 0.001), and 23% in central ray positioning (P < 0.05).
• These results indicate superior accuracy in patient positioning for the VR-trained cohort.
• Performance metrics were significantly better than those trained with traditional methods.

Conclusions:

• VR simulation training led to demonstrably better patient positioning outcomes in radiography students.
• The VR group exhibited significant improvements in key positioning parameters.
• Enhanced anatomical visualization and task deconstruction in VR contribute to improved clinical skills.