Master Surgeon - A Serious Game for Enhancing Ultrasound Interpretation

In this thesis we set out to examine theories from game design and gamification to create a serious game that teaches ultrasound interpretation. The motivation behind this research has been the need for surgeons, technicians and students to be able to practise this skill outside the operation room. To be able to read ultrasound images, a lot of practice is required, and we hope that through this serious game we will make this experience easier to obtain and available for a larger group of people. The focus of this thesis was to discover success factors for serious games and find theories from game design that affects how engaging a gaming experience is. This information was used to developed a serious game prototype named Master Surgeon, primarily for smart-devices. After the final prototype was implemented the game was evaluated by surgeons, technicians and students. The results from the evaluation revealed that Master Surgeon does present a fun way of practising ultrasound interpretation, but that there is still room for improvement regarding how engaging the game is