A Novel Serious Game as an Alternative for Teaching Basic Point-of-Care Transthoracic Echocardiography Skills

NCT06106178 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 1289/2023
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare different digital learning methods for teaching basic skills in point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography to medical students. The main question it aims to answer is: • Is a novel digital learning tool, such as a serious video game, non-inferior to traditional ultrasound simulator teaching methods in the context of basic point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography skills training? Participants will train basic point-of-care ultrasound skills using either a traditional basic ultrasound simulator course or the serious video game "Underwater". Both methods focus on training hand-eye coordination, which is particularly important in transthoracic echocardiography. To compare the performance of the participants, a baseline assessment will be performed before and a final assessment after the two-week training period.

Conditions

Echocardiography; Education, Medical

Keywords

Echocardiography; Education, Medical; Anesthesiology; Critical Care

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Difference in the participants' modified Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skill (OSAUS) score between the baseline and final assessment

  The primary outcome measure is the difference in the participant's modified Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skill (OSAUS) score between the participants' baseline and final assessment. Possible assessment scores range from 4 to 20 points, with higher scores indicating better performance. Each participant's baseline assessment score is his or her individual baseline score, from which the difference to the respective final assessment score is calculated.

  Two-week change from baseline to final assessment score

Secondary Outcomes (25)

• Gender differences in modified Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skill (OSAUS) scores between the baseline and final assessment

  evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion

• Group effects on gender differences in modified Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skill (OSAUS) scores

  evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion

• Time to complete the baseline assessment

  up to 10 minutes

• Time to complete the final assessment

  up to 10 minutes

• Spearman correlation coefficients between the time taken and the participants learning progress

  evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion

Study Arms (2)

Simulator for Basic Ultrasound Skills

OTHER

Basic course of a traditional ultrasound simulator focusing on hand-eye coordination

Other: Simulator for Basic Ultrasound Skills

Serious Video Game

OTHER

Serious video game "Underwater" that focuses on hand-eye coordination training using a 3D-printed ultrasound probe for maneuvering.

Other: Serious Video Game

Interventions

Simulator for Basic Ultrasound Skills OTHER

Basic course of a traditional ultrasound simulator focusing on hand-eye coordination

Simulator for Basic Ultrasound Skills

Serious Video Game OTHER

The serious video game "Underwater" uses a 3D-printed ultrasound probe for maneuvering. During gameplay, coins must be collected in an underwater world using the aforementioned simulated ultrasound probe. The main focus of this game is to improve hand-eye coordination while using an ultrasound probe.

Serious Video Game

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 110 Years
• Gender Eligibility Details: Participants will be asked about their gender identity and will be randomized equally per gender to the control or intervention group.
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Medical student at the Medical University of Vienna (Medicine Degree Program)
• ≥18 years
• Basic knowledge of anatomy (completed Block 2 of the MUV curriculum)

You may not qualify if:

• Previous experience using an ultrasound device

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Medical University of Vienna: lead

Study Sites (1)

Medical University of Vienna

Vienna, Vienna, 1090, Austria

Location

Related Links

• Serious Video Game "Underwater"

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The POCUS examinations are videotaped without the possibility of identifying the participant. A camera visually records the movements of the ultrasound probe and the participant's hand, while a pen is used to mark the appropriate structures on the frozen ultrasound images. The audio recordings of these videos are transcribed and presented to the evaluators in written form only. After all participants have completed the baseline assessment, these two videos from each participant will be edited together and can be presented to the experts for evaluation as a compact video along with the transcribed audio recordings. In addition, the videos and audio transcripts presented to the experts will be labeled with randomly generated numbers for scoring.
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Participants will attend a 90-minute workshop to learn the basics of point-of-care echocardiography. They will then be required to perform standardized transthoracic echocardiography before and after a two-week training period, which will be scored by blinded experts. During the training phase, one group will practice the hand-eye coordination required for echocardiography using an ultrasound simulator, while the second group will practice the same content using a serious video game. In addition, questionnaires will be used to collect additional data from the participants.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 3, 2023
• First Posted: October 30, 2023
• Study Start: October 3, 2023
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2024
• Study Completion: July 30, 2024
• Last Updated: February 11, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

AU (1)