Testimonial on the use of the BodyWorks Eve® simulation systems
Mike Kirk Programme Leader for Diagnostic Imaging (Medical Ultrasound)
Jane Arezina Associate Professor in Medical Ultrasound
Sandra Morrissey Lecturer in Medical Ultrasound
at the University of Leeds
University of Leeds has a long tradition of providing high quality postgraduate student education for sonographers. It has always prided itself on balancing the academic and practical needs of a profession that requires a high level of manual dexterity, hand eye skills and professional knowledge.
One of the greatest challenges for any trainee sonographer is being able to learn the manual skills alongside pattern recognition and the application of medical knowledge. In the clinical setting training is often subdivided into time spent scanning, and time spent formulating opinion and writing reports. This subdivision is artificial and does not accurately represent sonographers’ skills which include simultaneously being able to scan, identify pathology and formulate a report to convey their findings, where the needs of the patients outweigh any educational purpose.
Simulation devices allow the student to experience realistic scan experiences and introduce pathological appearances into teaching, combining a narrative alongside the development of the required hand-eye coordination skills. Previous haptic style devices, that have given the sensory feedback of holding a probe while providing an image representative of a body area and pathology, have proven very useful; however, having the tactile and realistic sensation of a BodyWorks Eve® manikin takes this immersive training to the next level.
The student can feel that they are in as close to a clinical scanning situation as they can be without fear of offending patients, taking up valuable machine time, or obstructing the function of the clinical department, but having the space and opportunity to develop their ultrasound skills at a pace suitable for them. This approach is very much aligned with latest thinking of what is described as ‘immersive education’ a vital part of any skill that requires professional academic knowledge while carrying out an act that demands dexterity and coordination.
Since first purchasing our BodyWorks Eve® simulation devices, they have become integrated into our teaching, providing an initial introduction into the complexities of performing an ultrasound examination while allowing us to introduce pathology on demand at the time appropriate for the students training.
We already are using BodyWorks Eve® as a platform for teaching ultrasound scanning skills and reporting skills, to prepare students so that they can enter the clinical environment with confidence that they already have the ability to perform a scan and recognise pathology before taking on the responsibility of ensuring the patients welfare and safety as well as performing the function of undertaking the ultrasound scan.
We have found BodyWorks Eve® simple and easy to use when both scanning normal anatomy and simple or complex pathologies. The BodyWorks Eves® have allowed us to produce lifelike scenarios, patient histories and sometimes the multiple pathological appearances of complex and systemic disease with a scan image almost exactly representative of scanning real patients.
This has never had more relevance: we are about to commence an undergraduate ultrasound programme which will require us to train students with no prior knowledge of imaging and specifically have no conceptual understanding of how an ultrasound scan is performed.
The lifelike appearance and scanning experience the BodyWorks Eve® produces has allowed us to integrate into the teaching the necessary communication and counselling skills. As we have multiple manikins in use, we have named each of them, this has attached some level of persona to them, furthering the idea for students they’re scanning a real person.
We would recommend that anybody who is serious about offering high quality immersive ultrasound training uses a BodyWorks Eve® as an integral part of their training programme.
Hi-fidelity ultrasound simulators for Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) used in critical care, intensive care and emergency medicine.
