Teaching endoscopy in virtual reality (ViGaTu)

Gastrointestinal endoscopy is usually taught by an experienced physician who acts as a mentor for trainees during their first endoscopic procedures. This system has major disadvantages — including the fact that training time is limited and the range of diseases covered is restricted to those treated in the specific center.

Illustrationsbild: The virtual colonoscopy room, seen on the right, was modeled on the procedure room in Würzburg University Hospital. — The virtual colonoscopy room, seen on the right, was modeled on the procedure room in Würzburg University Hospital.

Illustrationbild: An endoscope handle, with the model seen in reality on the left and as the VR implementation on the right, with valves. — An endoscope handle, with the model seen in reality on the left and as the VR implementation on the right, with valves.

National and international guidelines provide instructions on how to perform gastrointestinal endoscopy. These guidelines are regularly updated and are extremely helpful in everyday practice. Due to the increasing number of guidelines, however, it is hard for trainees to identify the relevant information during their initial period in endoscopy. Commercially available endoscopy simulators are also expensive and do not provide guideline information.

In this project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Funding code 01PG20005), we are developing a virtual reality-based training system for gastrointestinal endoscopy that is affordable and includes up-to-date guideline information

Collaborators