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About The Course:

A 26-year-old male is brought to the trauma room with a single stab wound to his cardiac box. Three minutes prior to arrival he was intubated by the paramedic team. His vitals were also checked and is receiving CPR. ED thoracotomy will have to be performed to gain access to the heart and suture the wound.

This VR simulation for ED Thoracotomy is designed to help surgeons practice performing the procedure in a safe and controlled environment with a virtual patient. With both training and assessment modes, learners can perform the procedure and assess themselves on their performance.

Learning Objectives:
  • Demonstrating proper technique for performing an ED thoracotomy, including incision, rib spreading, and heart exposure
  • Practicing effective wound suturing techniques to manage emergency cardiac injuries
Reference:
  • American College of Surgeons. (2023). Emergency department thoracotomy guidelines.

Customize Your Program
Get rid of the editor. Adopt in-VR customization.

MedVR Education is bringing to you in-VR customization that will enable you to customize your procedural simulations by making selections from a range of feature choices. 

  • Select patient from a diverse background
  • Choose preferred virtual environment
  • Select equipment used in the procedure
  • Modify difficulty level of the assessment mode
  • …..many more to come
  • Multi-player
    Sessions
  • Physics-based Interaction

Core Skills Training

ED Thoracotomy

As a part of this ED Thoracotomy procedure, the learner will begin by performing hand sanitization. The surgical area will be prepped by cleaning and moving the left arm above the head. An incision will be made along the fifth rib line from the sternum, extending to the fifth clavicular line. Having cut through the muscles, the incision will be kept open using a rib spreader. Holding the outer heart skin, the learner will make a cut above the phrenic nerve and expose the heart. The learner will then proceed to suturing the wound.
All necessary affordances a provided to complete the procedure with efficiency.

Training

With prompts, guidance and affordances learners are hand-held through the process to practice the procedure in a virtual environment with a virtual patient.  

  • Photorealistic virtual environment  
  • Physics-based interactions  
  • Detailed instructions  
  • Adequate affordances to assist in task completion 

Assessment

Test acquired skills to perform the procedures from start to finish without prompts. An incorrect step will take the learner back to the start to start afresh.  

  • Live scoring  
  • Instant feedback  
  • Adequate affordances for efficient performance  
  • Time tracking to monitor activity completion