The benefits of using interactive device simulations as training material for clinicians

Abstract

This paper reports on our experience in developing training material for a hospital, in the form of an interactive simulation of a medical device routinely used in the hospital. The subject device is a commercial contrast media injector used in Computed Tomography (CT) scans. The specification of the device was reverse engineered using in combination the user manual, direct interaction with the real device, and the results of a field study we conducted that focused on how expert users routinely operate the device. The interactive simulation greatly helped to identify critical workflows that could induce accidental use errors that lead to dangerous situations such as failure to correctly detect air-in-line before starting the injection. The interactive simulation proved also useful to stimulate a constructive discussion within a multidisciplinary team of engineers and clinicians, about possible design improvements to the device that could prevent the identified critical workflows.