Design and evaluation of UltRASim: An immersive simulator for learning ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia basic skills

Virtual reality shows great promise as a technology for training healthcare professionals within a secure simulated environment. This work presents the design, development, and assessment of UltRASim: an immersive simulator for ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia. First, task and skills analyses were performed with domain experts to build the task model of the procedure and determine the simulator’s learning objectives and design constraints. Then, a face and content validity study was conducted with eighteen anesthesiologists to assess the simulator’s prototype. The responses to seven of eleven face validity questions were predominantly positive, indicating a favorable reception. The primary concerns pertained to the fidelity of haptic feedback during needle insertion. This suggests incorporating a higher fidelity haptic device in future design iterations. Conversely, responses to all six questions related to the content validity were predominantly positive. Participants found that the simulator held significant potential as a training tool, particularly for developing hand–eye coordination skills. These findings validate several design choices and highlight areas for improvement in subsequent iterations of UltRASim before its formal validation as a training tool.