FW-HTF-RM Collaborative Research: Augmenting Remote Medical Procedure Training and Assistance with Spatial Computing and Volumetric Capture

医疗保健支出占美国国内生产总值的17%，占劳动力的12%，但获得高技能卫生专业人员的机会在地理和社会经济阶层之间分布不均。 基于视频会议的远程保健系统使专家能够协助和培训偏远或农村的医务人员，从而部分解决了这一不平等问题。然而，视频会议本身不能充分传达三维信息，这是执行许多医疗程序所必需的。例如，专家在仅使用视频会议执行医疗程序时很难远程地精确地引导操作者的手。该项目将通过允许实时交换当前视频会议远程保健中缺少的三维信息，改变医务人员远距离通信和协作的方式。该项目将导致更公平地获得医疗保健;提高需要远程专家协助的医疗程序的成功率;更具成本效益地分配医疗保健技能和培训;以及更高质量的远程专家医疗建议。它还将利用新兴技术吸引学生进行跨学科研究。这项研究的目标包括：i）了解医务人员在远程培训，指导和程序协助中的通信需求，ii）深入了解混合现实体积表示和传输在远程医疗环境中的应用; iii）用于模拟患者在远程专家的位置处的物理存在的混合现实体积通信系统的设计指南; iv）3D空间信息在远程医疗程序辅助中的效用的临床评估;以及v）检查空间增强通信在远程医疗培训和指导中的功效的用户研究。 该项目旨在招募144名受训人员，包括医学和联合健康学生，医生，医生助理和护士从业人员，参加三种条件下的随机培训实验：当前标准培训，2D和语音指导以及3D混合现实。为了实现上述目标，研究人员还将推进空间计算和体积捕获技术。该项目的交付成果包括一个空间通信远程保健系统的原型，该系统将创建患者的实时三维表示。该共享表示将用医疗程序操作者和远程引导专家之间交换的信息来注释。该项目是急诊医学系和乔治华盛顿大学临床学习和模拟技能中心以及美国大学之间的合作。该多学科研究团队包括来自计算机科学、人机交互、通信、远程医疗、急救医学、医学模拟和医学教育的研究人员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Healthcare expenditure accounts for 17% of the US Gross Domestic Product and 12% of the workforce, but access to highly skilled health professionals is not evenly distributed across geographic and socioeconomic strata. Videoconferencing-based telehealth systems partly address this inequality by enabling experts to assist and train remote or rural medical personnel. However, videoconferencing alone cannot adequately convey three-dimensional information that is essential in performing many medical procedures. For example, it is very difficult for an expert to precisely guide an operator's hand remotely in performing a medical procedure using only videoconferencing. This project will transform the way medical personnel communicates and collaborates across the distance by allowing for real-time exchange of three-dimensional information that is missing in current videoconferencing telehealth. The project will lead to more equitable access to healthcare; improved success for medical procedures that require the assistance of a remote expert; more cost-effective distribution of healthcare skills and training; and higher quality expert medical advice from a distance. It will also engage students in interdisciplinary research using emerging technology.The goals of this research include: i) developing an understanding of the communication needs for medical staff in distant training, mentoring and procedural assistance, ii) insights into the application of mixed-reality volumetric representation and transmission in remote healthcare settings; iii) design guidelines for a mixed-reality volumetric communication system that simulates the physical presence of the patient at the location of the remote expert; iv) clinical evaluation of the utility of 3D spatial information in remote medical procedures assistance; and v) user studies examining the efficacy of spatially-enhanced communication in remote medical training and guidance. The project aims to enroll 144 trainees consisting of medical and allied health students, physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners to participate in randomized training experiments in three conditions: current standard training, 2D and voice guidance, and 3D mixed-reality. To achieve the above goals, researchers will also advance spatial computation and volumetric capture technologies. The project deliverables include a prototype of a spatial communication telehealth system that will create a real-time three-dimensional representation of the patient. This shared representation will be annotated with information exchanged between the medical procedure operator and the remotely guiding expert. The project is a collaboration between the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Clinical Learning and Simulation Skills Center at George Washington University, and American University. The multidisciplinary research team includes researchers from computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, telehealth, emergency medicine, medical simulation, and medical education.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.