Designing an Interactive Visualization of Ventriculostomy for General Surgeons in Austere Areas

Project Type: Research - Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Biomedical Visualization in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Chicago, 2021

Media: Unity, C#, Autodesk 3Ds Max, Pixologic ZBrush, Adobe Creative Suite - Photoshop, Illustrator

Final Presentation Format: Tablet app (for purposes of research, was built as a WebGL for PC access)

Physicians and position extenders located in austere, rural, and other resource limited areas must be able to perform a variety of emergency procedures to limit mortality associated with the increased time between injury and higher-level treatment at a robust facility. To help reduce skill attrition, there is a need for educational resources for medical professionals who may need to perform neurosurgical techniques at a moment’s notice. This study aimed to address the gap in research associated with the informed development of neurosurgical teaching applications for physicians and position extenders working in austere and rural areas.

This research examined how an educational resource for the ventriculostomy procedure could be designed to take into consideration the limitations of working in an austere environment, varied education of learners, and the necessity to encourage long term retention of the procedure. This investigation aimed to provide insight into the development of teaching tools for medical professionals working in austere and rural areas and add to the body of educational resources available to surgeons and practitioners for review.