Osso VR releases results of validation study

Osso VR announced the results of its firstvalidation study showing a 230 percent improvement in the participants’ overallsurgical performance when prepared with virtual reality (VR) training.

The study, titled “Randomized, Controlled Trial of a Virtual Reality Tool to Teach Surgical Technique for Tibial Shaft Fracture Intramedullary Nailing,” was conducted by the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). The results will be presented for the first time at the 2019 Current Annual Meeting of the Western Orthopedic Association.

Technological advances in orthopedics arerequiring surgeons to master an increasing number of procedures and new medicaldevices. Unfortunately, training paradigms and opportunities have notincreased to keep up with this massive educational burden. This issue isfurther exacerbated for residents by work-hour restrictions and increased timespent on non-clinical administrative tasks. A 2017 study performed at theUniversity of Michigan found that upon graduation from residency, after 14years of education, 30 percent of graduating residents were still unable tooperate independently. VR training has the potential to directly address thisproblem by providing on-demand training that can be used anytime and anywhere.UCLA performed this validation study in order to understand whether thistechnology was effective and to what degree.

Inthe study, 20 participants were randomized between a traditionally trainedgroup and a group that underwent VR training to a specified level ofproficiency. Each participant then performed a tibial intramedullary nailing ona sawbones simulation, graded by a blinded observer.

Participantsin the VR group completed the tibial intramedullary nailing procedure anaverage of 20 percent faster than the SG group, which was statisticallysignificant (VR: 615 sec, SG: 762 sec, p = 0.002). In addition, students in theVR group completed 38 percent more steps correctly in the procedure-specificchecklist compared to the SG group, which was statistically significant.

Asmeasured by the Global Assessment 5-Point Rating Scale, participants in the VRgroup received significantly higher ratings in all categories compared to theSG group with an overall improvement of 230 percent in total score for the VRtrained group.

“Asan orthopaedic surgeon, it’s critical to me that our technology isevidence-based. As we roll out a completely new way to train, we want our usersand customers to continue to see this platform as effective and reliable,” saidJustin Barad, MD, CEO and co-founder of Osso VR. “These study results are justthe beginning as we tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the healthcareindustry today. Our goal is to unlock the value our providers and industry areworking to bring to patients around the world.”

Furtherwork will be completed to validate these training methods in long-termlongitudinal studies, ultimately showing that VR simulation leads to improvedpatient outcomes and decreases cost by improving surgical efficiency.