gms | German Medical Science

4th InVeST – International Veterinary Simulation in Teaching Conference

14.09. - 16.09.2015, Hannover

The world’s first simulator for echocardiographic examinations in cats

Meeting Abstract

  • author presenting/speaker Elisabeth Zandt - Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Department of Veterinary Science, Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Munich, Germany
  • author Julia Decker - Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Department of Veterinary Science, Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Munich, Germany
  • author Stefanie Weber - Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Department of Veterinary Science, Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Munich, Germany
  • author Inga Wölfel - Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Department of Veterinary Science, Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Munich, Germany
  • corresponding author Cordula Poulsen Nautrup - Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Department of Veterinary Science, Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Munich, Germany

InVeST 2015: International Veterinary Simulation in Teaching Conference. Hannover, 14.-16.09.2015. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2015. Doc15invest22

doi: 10.3205/15invest22, urn:nbn:de:0183-15invest226

Veröffentlicht: 10. September 2015

© 2015 Zandt et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open-Access-Artikel und steht unter den Lizenzbedingungen der Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (Namensnennung). Lizenz-Angaben siehe http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Gliederung

Text

Performing echocardiography properly requires many hours of training. Echocardiographic examinations are especially stressful for cats. Therefore, finding animals for training purposes is difficult. Furthermore, laws concerning animal welfare restrict the use of living animals for educational purposes.

For this reason, an echocardiographic simulator for cats has been developed.

This ultrasound simulator consists of three-dimensional echocardiographic datasets, two cat models on a model echocardiographic examination table and a model transducer in a computer unit combined with an electromagnetic tracking system: the SonoSim III developed by Sonofit GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany.

Three-dimensional echocardiographic datasets of two healthy and three diseased cats (suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or a ventricular septal defect) were further processed. In order to improve quality, each image contained in the dataset was processed with the same color scheme, in which the inner parts of the heart were blackened, the left heart was colored in red, and the right heart was colored in blue. These datasets were included in the SonoSim III.

Additionally, two cat models have been developed. They are equipped with special features, such as elbow skinfolds and palpable ribs for improving orientation and consist of a foam core covered with fake fur. One model is designed in left lateral, the other one in right lateral recumbency. The cat models are lying on an examination table, which allows the examination to be conducted with the model transducer from below.

With the feline echocardiography simulator, the learner is able to practice examining a healthy cat in long- and short axis views from the right side and left apical three, four and five chamber views, in colored and in black and white version. The learner can practice echocardiography autodidactically with the help of the Follow-Up feature. In this mode, a special task is given and the simulator gives feedback whether the task is completed or not.

For advanced learners, it is possible to use the feline echocardiographic simulator for diagnosing heart diseases, as the datasets of three diseased cats are also available during simulation.

In a survey carried out among senior students at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich who evaluated the feline echocardiographic simulator, the respective standard views produced in the simulator were evaluated with ‘very close to reality’ by 50–38% and with ‘close to reality’ by 57–53% of the students. Additionally, the use of examining “diseased cats” was evaluated with 97% as ‘very useful’ and the simulator as a supplement for living animals in practical education was evaluated by 89% with ‘very good’.

As it becomes more difficult to use live animals in veterinary medical education, the importance of simulation is constantly increasing. This feline echocardiographic simulator provides students with the chance to practice echocardiography on cat models under near-realistic conditions, without the use of living animals. This improves education significantly and allows animal welfare laws to be respected.