From: pagliari@eleceng.uct.ac.za Subject: APPS: Medical Applications in Virtual Reality - survey Date: Mon, 4 Sep 1995 10:43:59 GMT Message-ID: Organization: University of Cape Town From pagliari@eleceng.uct.ac.za Hi everyone :), If you have any knowledge/or interest in one of the following topics please take time to read this: VIRTUAL REALITY MEDICAL SURGERY My name is Jason Rosenstein (NDip FIS) I am a 4th year student in Financial Information Systems. Please take some time to answer the questions below as thoroughly as possible even if you can't answer them fully. Thankyou very much. I am doing a proposal on the following topic for my Masters Research Project: ===================================================================== A Feasibility Study of the Application of Virtual Reality (VR) in the Medical Field - Specificly Surgery ===================================================================== Hypothesis: Virtual Reality is going to lead the way in medical surgery performed by medical students and qualified professionals. This assignment has to be handed in, in 2 weeks time. I am worried that I might have problems in completing this before the hand in date. You can help me with the problems I have in the sections/questions below: The assignment is broken up into the following sections: 1) Motivation for the topic. ============================== What is possible now ? Why do a study on this topic ? What are the motivating factors for doing this study ie why is this topic useful ? Does it have any current/future applications ? Is it a technologically/financially/realistically feasible topic? 2) Expected benefits from the investigation. ============================================== What benefits to the surgeons/students/patients will it have ? Are there any disadvantages eg time lag ? What problems could morals/laws/ethics/religious beliefs interfere with the application of VR in medicine ? What could be achieved with this technology eg. robotic surgery via satellite performed on wounded military personnel ? 3) Research methodologies (how am I going to do the research - SURVEY/JOURNALS/INTERNET NEWS SITES/WEB SITES/FTP SITES/BOOKS/LABORATORY TESTING etc.) ================================================================ What types of research methods on this topics could be recommended in this study ? Which methods of research would not/would be taken and why ? Is there any current research into this field that is publicly accessible? Which journals related to VR and medicine should I read ? What SURVEY/JOURNALS/INTERNET NEWS SITES/WEB SITES/FTP SITES/BOOKS/LABORATORY TESTING should I access ? 4) Literature readings and reviews of current VR technologies and medical applications. =================================================================== Do you know of specific sources on VR - medical applications in surgery to motivate the feasibility of this topic ? 5) Study population (who is going to be included in the study), sample size, hypothesis (VR is going to lead the way in medical surgery performed by medical students and qualified professionals.) ======================================================================== How do we test the hypothesis ? Who should form part of the study population to be surveyed eg. eg medical/computer scientists/technicians/students ? In testing the hypothesis how would the groups in the population be compared in order to draw conclusion/s (eg. Are you comparing the thoughts/knowledge of doctors vs students vs technicians vs patients) ? What sample size/sampling techniques should be used when doing the survey ? How long should the research take ? What sources will be used to prove the hypothesis incorrect/correct ? 6) Format and examples of the questionnaire. Important questions to be asked that supply relevant data to the study ? How many questions should be asked ? Should they be open or closed ended questions ? How would the survey be performed eg. INTERVIEW/MAIL/INTERNET etc ? 7) Data analysis of results of the survey. How will the information be analyzed ? What level of significance(p-value) should be used ? 8) Conclusion: Is the hypothesis correct. Do you think this hypothesis is correct ? Please reply by posting your answer to the following email address pagliari@eleceng.uct.ac.za Any support would be greatly appreciated. Thanking you kindly in advance Jason Rosenstein