Extended Reality in the Operating Room: Robot-Assisted Orthopedics Surgery with Live and Interactive Streaming for Medical Students

Abstract

[Abstract] Traditionally, medical education comprises both theoretical learning in classrooms and clinical training in hospitals where students can gain clinical experience. This is mostly done on face-to-face teaching models, focused on the educational philosophy of “see one, do one, teach one”, was the standard teaching methodology in medical education. Medical education is transforming thanks to medical schools adopting innovations to new clinicians, such as immersive prepare techniques (extended reality): virtual reality, augmented reality and virtual reality. Immersive learning technologies, such as extended reality, can provide an engaging and interactive platform to generate a stimulating learning environment and with the recent development and increased accessibility of immersive technologies, educators have the potential to make simulation-based training more effective. By using holographic devices, such as Microsoft HoloLens 2®, and 5G wireless communicationswe intent to explore the innovative experience of a robot-assisted orthopaedic surgery, where the procedures were transmitted live stream to Pregraduate Medical Students using the Microsoft Remote Assist®. In addition, students had the opportunity to interact directly from a classroom to the operating room, asking to the surgeon about the procedures performed during surgery and get involved in the surgery, even remotely. At the end, students completed a questionnaire to evaluate the experience and the preliminary results made possible to assess the effectiveness of this experience and identify areas for improvement for future surgery transmission, revolutionizing the teaching and practice of surgery