The Effect of Augmented Reality Training on Percutaneous Needle Placement in Spinal Facet Joint Injections

Abstract—The purpose of this study was to determine if aug-mented reality image overlay and laser guidance systems can assist medical trainees in learning the correct placement of a needle for percutaneous facet joint injection. The Perk Station training suite was used to conduct and record the needle insertion procedures. A total of 40 volunteers were randomized into two groups of 20. 1) The Overlay group received a training session that consisted of four in-sertions with image and laser guidance, followed by two insertions with laser overlay only. 2) The Control group received a training session of six classical freehand insertions. Both groups then con-ducted two freehand insertions. The movement of the needle was tracked during the series of insertions. The final insertion proce-dure was assessed to determine if there was a benefit to the overlay method compared to the freehand insertions. The Overlay group had a better success rate (83.3 % versus 68.4%, p = 0.002), and po-tential for less tissue damage as measured by the amount of needle movement inside the phantom (3077.6 mm2 versus 5607.9 mm2, p = 0.01). These results suggest that an augmented reality overlay guidance system can assist medical trainees in acquiring technical competence in a percutaneous needle insertion procedure. Index Terms—Medical simulation, modeling, skill assessment, surgical training. I