RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Initial experiences with virtual reality as a tool for observation in needs-driven health technology innovation
JF BMJ Innovations
JO BMJ Innov
FD All India Institute of Medical Sciences
SP 10
OP 12
DO 10.1136/bmjinnov-2018-000308
VO 6
IS 1
A1 Kenneth H Perrone
A1 Katherine Sherman Blevins
A1 Lyn Denend
A1 Richard Fan
A1 Justin Huelman
A1 James Kennedy Wall
YR 2020
UL http://innovations.bmj.com/content/6/1/10.abstract
AB The Stanford University Biodesign Innovation Fellowship teaches a needs-based methodology for the innovation of health technologies. This involves the direct observation of patient care in a variety of settings, ranging from the hospital to the home, to identify unmet needs that can be addressed via innovative new technology-based solutions. Expanding this model to educate a larger population of undergraduate and graduate students is limited by access to real clinical observations, partly due to hospital policies and patient privacy concerns. We hypothesise that the use of virtual reality (VR) can be an effective tool to provide students access to a variety of clinical scenarios for identifying needs for innovation. In this preliminary study, two undergraduate students observed clinical care live in the operating room (OR) and using VR headsets. The students identified needs in both settings and compared the two experiences with a short survey. While VR did not offer a complete replication of the OR experience, it served as a viable tool for learning how to make observations. VR merits further investigation as an educational tool for needs finding and as a proxy for live clinical observations.