Design and evaluation of an educational system for ultrasound-guided interventional procedures

This paper presents the development and evaluation of an educational system for training and skills assessment of students performing ultrasound-guided interventional procedures. The system consists of: a needle guidance software which overlays virtual needle trajectories on the ultrasound screen, a custom course creation module, an automated procedure logging and evaluation module, and custom anatomical phantoms tailored to specific anesthesiology procedures. The system serves two distinct functions. As a learning tool, it provides guidance overlays that show the trajectory of the needle in real-time, aiding the development of skills required to handle the ultrasound probe and needle to achieve the correct trajectory. As an evaluation tool, it quantifies learning and provides feedback to the student and instructor. A set of 13 quantitative metrics were identified for student skill assessment, notably "distance of the needle tip to target," "total procedure time," and "total number of attempts." The system was evaluated in a semester-long study involving 35 nursing students covering four regional anesthesia procedures. Each student performed the procedures twice: once with instrument guidance, once without instrument guidance. Statistically significant differences were found between the with-guidance and without-guidance groups. The study was able to show that students consistently performed better under EDU's guidance for all four procedures.