Department of Computer Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL A1B 3X5, Canada.
Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL A1B 3V6, Canada.
Sensors (Basel). 2017 Oct 10;17(10):2294. doi: 10.3390/s17102294.
Traditionally, rural areas in many countries are limited by a lack of access to health care due to the inherent challenges associated with recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals. Telemedicine, which uses communication technology to deliver medical services over distance, is an economical and potentially effective way to address this problem. In this research, we develop a new telepresence application using an Augmented Reality (AR) system. We explore the use of the Microsoft HoloLens to facilitate and enhance remote medical training. Intrinsic advantages of AR systems enable remote learners to perform complex medical procedures such as Point of Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) without visual interference. This research uses the HoloLens to capture the first-person view of a simulated rural emergency room (ER) through mixed reality capture (MRC) and serves as a novel telemedicine platform with remote pointing capabilities. The mentor's hand gestures are captured using a Leap Motion and virtually displayed in the AR space of the HoloLens. To explore the feasibility of the developed platform, twelve novice medical trainees were guided by a mentor through a simulated ultrasound exploration in a trauma scenario, as part of a pilot user study. The study explores the utility of the system from the trainees, mentor, and objective observers' perspectives and compares the findings to that of a more traditional multi-camera telemedicine solution. The results obtained provide valuable insight and guidance for the development of an AR-supported telemedicine platform.
传统上，由于与医疗专业人员的招聘和留任相关的固有挑战，许多国家的农村地区在获得医疗保健方面受到限制。远程医疗使用通信技术远程提供医疗服务，是解决这一问题的一种经济且潜在有效的方法。在这项研究中，我们使用增强现实（AR）系统开发了一种新的远程呈现应用程序。我们探索了使用 Microsoft HoloLens 来促进和增强远程医疗培训。AR 系统的固有优势使远程学习者能够执行复杂的医疗程序，如床边超声（PoCUS），而不会受到视觉干扰。这项研究使用 HoloLens 通过混合现实捕获（MRC）捕获模拟农村急诊室（ER）的第一人称视图，并作为具有远程指向功能的新型远程医疗平台。导师的手势使用 Leap Motion 捕获，并在 HoloLens 的 AR 空间中虚拟显示。为了探索开发平台的可行性，十二名新手医学学员在导师的指导下通过创伤情景中的模拟超声探索进行了培训，这是试点用户研究的一部分。该研究从学员、导师和客观观察者的角度探讨了系统的实用性，并将研究结果与更传统的多摄像机远程医疗解决方案进行了比较。所获得的结果为开发支持 AR 的远程医疗平台提供了有价值的见解和指导。
