Combining virtual patient and medical imaging for paediatric diseases training and education

Abstract

Training for healthcare professionals has evolved significantly over the years. At Landspítali, the National University Hospital of Iceland, current training practices primarily rely on simulation-based training using high-fidelity mannequins. While this provides safe and controlled training environments, the mannequins are limited in their ability to simulate realistic patients and lack diagnostic components, such as medical imaging, an essential aspect, particularly in pediatric care. With the rapid advancement of digital health technologies, new opportunities are emerging to enhance medical training. Virtual patient (VP) platforms have recently gained traction as valuable training tools, offering immersive, interactive scenarios and the potential to incorporate elements previously absent from training, such as medical images. This thesis explores the feasibility of integrating medical imaging into VP simulations with a focus on pediatric training for healthcare professionals. By combining virtual reality, medical imaging, and simulation-based training, this study aims to enhance the realism and educational value of training. A proof-of-concept approach was adopted to demonstrate this integration. In collaboration with software developers from Mirno, an Icelandic start-up developing an immersive virtual platform, and clinical experts, a pediatrician and a nurse, inclusion criteria were established for case selection. Thirteen pediatric disease cases were screened based on these criteria with the additional requirement that each case involved the use of medcial images. Of these, seven met the inclusion criteria, and two cases, pneumonia and a femur fracture, were selected for integration. The pneumonia case was fully integrated into the VP platform using representative medical images. This project also utilized the Radio Anatomical Interactive Library, a medical imaging database developed by Reykjavík University and Landspítali, as an archive for the cases that were created. The results indicate that integrating medical imaging into VP simulations can enhance both realism and educational value of pediatric training. Despite certain limitations, such as using representative rather than authentic medical images and a limited number of expert interviews, this work lays the foundation for future research into the educational impact of VP platforms with medical imaging integrated for training.Keywords: Healthcare professional training, virtual patient simulation, medical imaging, pediatric disease cases.