Advancing Medical Training with Mixed Reality and Haptic Feedback Simulator for Acupuncture Needling

Area of Science:

• Medical Simulation
• Extended Reality (XR) in Healthcare
• Acupuncture Education

Background:

• Traditional acupuncture training lacks objective feedback and quantitative assessment.
• Existing extended reality (XR) solutions for medical training often omit detailed performance metrics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a feedback-enabled mixed reality (MR) acupuncture simulator.
• To enhance acupuncture skill acquisition using depth-responsive guidance and quantitative scoring.

Main Methods:

• A mixed reality (MR) system using Microsoft HoloLens 2 with a virtual patient and haptic feedback.
• Quantitative assessment of needle insertion depth, angular deviation, tip-to-center distance, and task duration.
• Evaluation with ten participants (novices and experts) performing needle tasks at specific acupoints.

Main Results:

• Significant reduction in mean depth error (6.41 mm to 3.58 mm) and task time (9.29 s to 6.83 s).
• Beginner improvement in depth accuracy, reduced angular deviation, and faster completion times at acupoint LI11.
• Experts demonstrated higher performance than novices, confirming construct validity; high usability (4.46/5) and reliability (ω = 0.93) were reported.

Conclusions:

• Expert-informed scoring and depth-responsive haptic feedback significantly improve acupuncture training accuracy and efficiency.
• The MR acupuncture simulator demonstrates technical robustness and educational readiness for clinical training.
• The system enhances learning confidence and skill acquisition in acupuncture.