Michael Barbella, Managing Editor12.13.22
Osso VR is touting study results demonstrating the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) training for medical residents learning complex orthopedic surgical procedures.
Led by orthopedic surgeons at Community Memorial Health System in California, the study divided a group of orthopedic residents, with half undergoing training through the standard technique guide and half using Osso VR’s immersive platform for a fixed-bearing medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. Researchers found those who utilized VR-based training from Osso VR significantly outperformed those using guided instruction—completing the procedure 25% faster with fewer step corrections and higher assessment scores.
“Our results illustrate the pivotal role of virtual reality in enhancing the learning curve and overall experience in surgical education. Residents trained using Osso VR executed more steps correctly and completed the procedure faster,” said Stephan Sweet, M.D., MPH, the study’s senior author. “Research continues to support that immersive VR not only works but has enormous potential as a scalable alternative to antiquated learning modalities.”
Key conclusions from the study include:
“I’m frankly astounded by the rapidly growing body of evidence strongly demonstrating the significant impact of virtual reality as a surgical training tool,” said Justin Barad, M.D., CEO and co-founder of Osso VR. “There are over 300 million major procedures performed annually. Imagine if we can scale this technology to bring results like this study to each and every one of those patients. That would be an improvement in global surgical care delivery that is very rarely seen in our field.”
Adoption of virtual reality has skyrocketed in recent years. As the medical industry grapples with how to best utilize the technology, studies like these are vital in not only proving the value that immersive training provides but also demonstrating how it is best utilized.
“The more quality data we get from institutions validating the effectiveness of our technology, the better we can innovate our offerings to support and inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals,” said Andrea Zider, senior director of Medical Affairs at Osso VR. “We look forward to working with other leading researchers to make our mission a reality.”
Osso VR is a clinically validated surgical training and assessment platform designed for medical device companies and practicing surgeons of all skill levels. Using cinema quality VR, its scalable platform offers an immersive, hands-on training environment that leads to real-world performance gains and improved outcomes. Osso VR is the first simulation provider to incorporate competency-based assessment into its modules to objectively measure performance for benchmark analysis.
Founded in 2016, Osso VR is the most celebrated virtual reality company in healthcare, earning multiple industry awards, including Time Magazine’s Top 100 Inventions, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Healthcare Company, and the 2022 SXSW Innovation Award. Led by Barad, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Osso VR’s platform covers multiple surgical specialties and is available in more than 20 countries.
Led by orthopedic surgeons at Community Memorial Health System in California, the study divided a group of orthopedic residents, with half undergoing training through the standard technique guide and half using Osso VR’s immersive platform for a fixed-bearing medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. Researchers found those who utilized VR-based training from Osso VR significantly outperformed those using guided instruction—completing the procedure 25% faster with fewer step corrections and higher assessment scores.
“Our results illustrate the pivotal role of virtual reality in enhancing the learning curve and overall experience in surgical education. Residents trained using Osso VR executed more steps correctly and completed the procedure faster,” said Stephan Sweet, M.D., MPH, the study’s senior author. “Research continues to support that immersive VR not only works but has enormous potential as a scalable alternative to antiquated learning modalities.”
Key conclusions from the study include:
- The VR group completed significantly more steps correctly (33 vs. 27, p < 0.01) with fewer prompts to correct errors.
- The VR group demonstrated significantly better performance in several global assessment categories (time and motion, instrument handling, knowledge of instruments, flow of operation, and knowledge of procedure).
- The VR group demonstrated faster procedure completion (26.7 minutes vs. 35.4 minutes, p < 0.01) with less training time (38.8 minutes vs. 50 minutes, p = 0.03).
- Training with immersive virtual reality was more effective than with a standard technique guide.
“I’m frankly astounded by the rapidly growing body of evidence strongly demonstrating the significant impact of virtual reality as a surgical training tool,” said Justin Barad, M.D., CEO and co-founder of Osso VR. “There are over 300 million major procedures performed annually. Imagine if we can scale this technology to bring results like this study to each and every one of those patients. That would be an improvement in global surgical care delivery that is very rarely seen in our field.”
Adoption of virtual reality has skyrocketed in recent years. As the medical industry grapples with how to best utilize the technology, studies like these are vital in not only proving the value that immersive training provides but also demonstrating how it is best utilized.
“The more quality data we get from institutions validating the effectiveness of our technology, the better we can innovate our offerings to support and inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals,” said Andrea Zider, senior director of Medical Affairs at Osso VR. “We look forward to working with other leading researchers to make our mission a reality.”
Osso VR is a clinically validated surgical training and assessment platform designed for medical device companies and practicing surgeons of all skill levels. Using cinema quality VR, its scalable platform offers an immersive, hands-on training environment that leads to real-world performance gains and improved outcomes. Osso VR is the first simulation provider to incorporate competency-based assessment into its modules to objectively measure performance for benchmark analysis.
Founded in 2016, Osso VR is the most celebrated virtual reality company in healthcare, earning multiple industry awards, including Time Magazine’s Top 100 Inventions, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Healthcare Company, and the 2022 SXSW Innovation Award. Led by Barad, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Osso VR’s platform covers multiple surgical specialties and is available in more than 20 countries.