JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Guidelines provide instructions for diagnostics and therapy in modern medicine. Various mobile devices are used to represent the potential complex decision trees. An example of time-critical decisions is triage in case of a mass casualty incident.

Objective:

In this randomized controlled cross-over study, the potential of augmented reality for guideline presentation was evaluated and compared with a tablet PC as a conventional device.

Methods:

A specific Android app was designed for use with Smart Glasses as well as with a tablet PC for presentation of a triage algorithm as an example for a complex guideline. 40 volunteers simulated a triage based on 30 fictional patient descriptions each, with technical support from data glasses and a tablet PC in cross-over trial design. The time to come to a decision and the accuracy were recorded and compared between the different devices.

Results:

A total of 2400 assessments were performed. A significantly faster triage time has been achieved with the tablet PC (12.8 sec) compared to the smart glasses (17.5 sec; P = .001) in total. Considering the difference in triage duration between both devices, the additional time needed with the smart glasses could be reduced significantly in the course (P = .001). In accuracy of guideline decisions, there was no significant difference comparing both devices.

Conclusions:

The presentation of a guideline on a tablet computer, as well as in the form of augmented reality, achieved good results. The implementation using smart glasses took more time due to a more complex operating concept but could be accelerated in the course of the study after adaptation. Especially in a non-time-critical working area where hands-free interfaces are meaningful, a guideline presentation with augmented reality can already be implemented.