Virtual Reality Application for Teaching Complex Congenital Heart Defect Anatomy: Design and Development Study.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Technology
• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Anatomical Visualization

Background:

• Traditional medical education methods for complex cardiac anatomy, particularly congenital heart defects (CHDs), face limitations like specimen availability and student comfort.
• Existing methods such as cadaver dissection and textbooks present challenges in effectively teaching intricate 3D cardiac structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement an innovative virtual reality (VR) educational application for congenital heart defects (CHDs).
• To assess the acceptance and suitability of this VR application for medical education by evaluating user feedback.

Main Methods:

• High-fidelity 3D cardiac models were created from anonymized CT scan images using specialized software.
• These 3D models were integrated into a VR application developed in Unity.
• A pilot study involved cardiologists, biomedical engineers, and medical trainees to evaluate the VR app's effectiveness and user satisfaction.

Main Results:

• The VR application showed a significantly higher mean perception of educational potential for CHDs compared to traditional methods (4.56 vs. 3.22, P=.008).
• Participants found the application more suitable for medical students (mean=3.22, P=.02) and patient education (mean=4.11, P=.03).

Conclusions:

• The developed VR application provides an innovative method for teaching complex CHD anatomy using 3D models derived from CT scans.
• This technology offers advantages in 3D visualization and overcomes geographical limitations in medical education.
• Future research should explore Extended Reality (XR) integration and conduct long-term efficacy studies.