ArticleCureus2024
The Iterative Design and Development of an Affordable Ultrasound Simulator.
Article in Cureus, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Simulation-based medical education (SBME) offers a secure and controlled environment for training in ultrasound-related clinical skills such as nerve blocking and intravenous cannulation. Sonographer training for point-of-care ultrasound often adopts the train-the-trainer (TTT) model, wherein a select group of sonographers receive on-site training to subsequently instruct others. This model traditionally relies on expensive commercial ultrasound simulators, which presents a barrier to the scale-up of the TTT model. This study aims to address the need for cost-effective ultrasound simulators suitable for both initial and cascaded TTT. The objective of this report is to present the design and development of an affordable ultrasound simulator, which mimics anatomical features under ultrasound. The simulator was created using additive manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing, ballistic gel, and silicone work. We report on three development-feedback iterations, with feedback provided by an experienced sonographer from FUJIFILM Sonosite Canada Inc. using the think-aloud approach. Overall the results indicate that de-gassed silicone may serve as a good medium; vessels are best produced as hollow canals within the de-gassed silicone; 3D-printed bones cast acoustic shadows, which are reduced by increasing rigidity of the structures, and 3D printing filament and silicone can be used for nerve bundles. Future developments will focus on achieving anatomical accuracy, exploring alternative materials and printing parameters for the bones, and analyzing embedded structures at varying depths within the silicone. The next steps involve integrating the simulator into ultrasound curricula for a formal assessment of its effectiveness as a training tool.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.