Education, MedicalAW&VRNCT04451590
Virtual Reality: a Teaching-learning Strategy for Cognitive Mastery in Airway Trauma Management
A study testing VR-based simulation and Mannequin-based simulation in people with Education, Medical and Airway Management, run by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre at 1 site in Canada.
Trial summary
Airway injury in patients is a high risk and complex medical crisis. Unfortunately, training for airway management in injured patients is challenging. The most effective way of practicing airway management is using mannequins. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Education, Medical, Airway Management, Students, Medical
- What is being tested?
- VR-based simulation and Mannequin-based simulation
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 40 participants
- Where
- 1 siteCanada
- Study dates
- 1 Aug 2021to 22 Dec 2022
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Age ≥18 at time of consent
- Medical student at U of T in 1st, 2nd or 3rd year
- Able to attend two sessions a week apart
Who cannot join
- Lack of participant consent or capacity to give consent
- History of significant motion sickness (during exposure to physical, visual and virtual motion, cybersickness verbally declared by patient)
- Visual/hearing impairments that affect abilities to listen/watch videos/VR video
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Virtual Reality: a Teaching-learning Strategy for Cognitive Mastery in Airway Trauma
Airway injury in patients is a high risk and complex medical crisis. Unfortunately, training for airway management in injured patients is challenging. The most effective way of practicing airway management is using mannequins. However, mannequin training is expensive and only occasionally available to medical trainees.
The purpose of this study is to determine if Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to educate medical students on airway injury management. VR training will involve managing the care of a patient with an airway injury in an immersive, interactive VR hospital trauma bay. The investigators will compare the knowledge gained from VR training vs. mannequin training. The investigators will also investigate whether VR training teaches students faster than mannequin training. In addition, the investigators will identify factors which might affect learning from VR.
Read more
Medical students who choose to participate will be randomized (i.e. participant will have a 50% chance to be placed in either group) to be trained with VR or a mannequin. Participants then will be trained on airway injury management using their assigned training approach. One week later, all participants will be assessed on their airway injury management skills using a mannequin. Before and after their sessions, participants will also be asked to complete a questionnaire on their clinical decision-making. Participants who received VR training will also complete a questionnaire about their experience with the VR training.
This study will help develop a new approach to airway management training which is cheaper and more easily available to medical trainees than mannequin training. This educational tool could lead to better treatment of airway trauma in future patients.
- Conditions
- Education, Medical, Airway Management, Students, Medical, Virtual Reality, Trauma Centers, Manikins
- Being tested
- VR-based simulation, Mannequin-based simulation
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
VR-based simulationOther
Participants will experience a novel interactive and immersive VR full size trauma bay with an adult patient and healthcare professionals. Immersed in the environment, learners undertake the decision-making steps in managing the medical care for a patient with an airway injury. Learners are first given the case scenario from which they form their own learning goals/plans. They then navigate through the scenario that will provide feedback depending on their actions in the form of either the patient's hemodynamic changes or prompts from healthcare avatars in the scenario. These feedback processes are built-in and designed to promote reflection and reorganization of the learner's decision-making strategies. As learning progresses, fewer prompts will be given. At the end of the scenario, evaluation algorithms pre-programmed into the VR-based simulation will be displayed.
Mannequin-based simulationOther
Participants will experience a mannequin-based scenario practice which is the current gold standard in medical education. The trauma airway management scenario will match the VR environment and sequence of events.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| VR-based Simulation (Intervention) | Experimental | Students will receive training on traumatic airway management using VR-based simulation. Receives: Other: VR-based simulation |
| Mannequin-based Simulation (Control) | Other | Students will receive training on traumatic airway management using mannequin-based simulation. Receives: Other: Mannequin-based simulation |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in Traumatic Airway Injury Management Knowledge
Knowledge acquisition of traumatic airway injury management as assessed by the written Key Features Decision Making Checklist, Change from baseline (pre-training) knowledge to after practice session knowledge (post-training).
Measured: up to 24 hours before and up to 24 hours after practice sessions
Application of Traumatic Airway Injury Management Knowledge
Application of decision making concepts surrounding traumatic airway injury management as assessed by the Airway Injury Checklist of Core Decision Making Steps completed during participant performance of a simulated crisis assessment scenario.
Measured: 7 days after practice session
Secondary outcomes (1)
Number of Required Practice Sessions
Identify whether VR or mannequin-based simulation practice require fewer practice sessions to achieve learning objectives.
Measured: During the 1 day practice session
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted30 Jun 2020
- Study start1 Aug 2021
- Primary completion15 Dec 2022
- Study completion22 Dec 2022
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Education, MedicalStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04451590
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 108-2019
- Acronym
- AW&VR
- Status last verified
- Mar 2026
- First submitted
- 12 Nov 2019
- Last updated
- 13 Aug 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: De-identified participant-level data will be made available upon reasonable request to study PI following publication of full trial results.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 13 Aug 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Virtual Reality: a Teaching-learning Strategy for Cognitive Mastery in Airway Trauma
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04451590
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- AW&VR / 108-2019
- Conditions
- Education, Medical, Airway Management, Students, Medical, Virtual Reality, Trauma Centers, Manikins
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Sunnybrook Health Sciences CentreUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 1 Aug 2021 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 15 Dec 2022 (actual)
- Study completion
- 22 Dec 2022 (actual)
- First posted
- 30 Jun 2020 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Airway injury in patients is a high risk and complex medical crisis. Unfortunately, training for airway management in injured patients is challenging. The most effective way of practicing airway management is using mannequins. However, mannequin training is expensive and only occasionally available to medical trainees.
The purpose of this study is to determine if Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to educate medical students on airway injury management. VR training will involve managing the care of a patient with an airway injury in an immersive, interactive VR hospital trauma bay. The investigators will compare the knowledge gained from VR training vs. mannequin training. The investigators will also investigate whether VR training teaches students faster than mannequin training. In addition, the investigators will identify factors which might affect learning from VR.
Medical students who choose to participate will be randomized (i.e. participant will have a 50% chance to be placed in either group) to be trained with VR or a mannequin. Participants then will be trained on airway injury management using their assigned training approach. One week later, all participants will be assessed on their airway injury management skills using a mannequin. Before and after their sessions, participants will also be asked to complete a questionnaire on their clinical decision-making. Participants who received VR training will also complete a questionnaire about their experience with the VR training.
This study will help develop a new approach to airway management training which is cheaper and more easily available to medical trainees than mannequin training. This educational tool could lead to better treatment of airway trauma in future patients.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| VR-based Simulation (Intervention) | Experimental | Other: VR-based simulationStudents will receive training on traumatic airway management using VR-based simulation. |
| Mannequin-based Simulation (Control) | Other | Other: Mannequin-based simulationStudents will receive training on traumatic airway management using mannequin-based simulation. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Age ≥18 at time of consent
- Medical student at U of T in 1st, 2nd or 3rd year
- Able to attend two sessions a week apart
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Lack of participant consent or capacity to give consent
- History of significant motion sickness (during exposure to physical, visual and virtual motion, cybersickness verbally declared by patient)
- Visual/hearing impairments that affect abilities to listen/watch videos/VR video
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| VR-based simulationParticipants will experience a novel interactive and immersive VR full size trauma bay with an adult patient and healthcare professionals. Immersed in the environment, learners undertake the decision-making steps in managing the medical care for a patient with an airway injury. Learners are first given the case scenario from which they form their own learning goals/plans. They then navigate through the scenario that will provide feedback depending on their actions in the form of either the patient's hemodynamic changes or prompts from healthcare avatars in the scenario. These feedback processes are built-in and designed to promote reflection and reorganization of the learner's decision-making strategies. As learning progresses, fewer prompts will be given. At the end of the scenario, evaluation algorithms pre-programmed into the VR-based simulation will be displayed. | Other | VR-based Simulation (Intervention) |
| Mannequin-based simulationParticipants will experience a mannequin-based scenario practice which is the current gold standard in medical education. The trauma airway management scenario will match the VR environment and sequence of events. | Other | Mannequin-based Simulation (Control) |
Primary outcome
Change in Traumatic Airway Injury Management Knowledge
Time frame: up to 24 hours before and up to 24 hours after practice sessions
Knowledge acquisition of traumatic airway injury management as assessed by the written Key Features Decision Making Checklist, Change from baseline (pre-training) knowledge to after practice session knowledge (post-training).
Application of Traumatic Airway Injury Management Knowledge
Time frame: 7 days after practice session
Application of decision making concepts surrounding traumatic airway injury management as assessed by the Airway Injury Checklist of Core Decision Making Steps completed during participant performance of a simulated crisis assessment scenario.
1 secondary outcome
Number of Required Practice Sessions
Time frame: During the 1 day practice session
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 13 Aug 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. De-identified participant-level data will be made available upon reasonable request to study PI following publication of full trial results.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing VR-based simulation and Mannequin-based simulation in people with Education, Medical and Airway Management, run by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre at 1 site in Canada.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 13 Aug 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Canada. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Change in Traumatic Airway Injury Management Knowledge (time frame: up to 24 hours before and up to 24 hours after practice sessions). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 13 Aug 2026.