Currently submitted to: JMIR XR and Spatial Computing (JMXR)
Date Submitted: Apr 13, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 17, 2026 - Jun 12, 2026
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
NOTE: This is an unreviewed Preprint
Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint (What is a preprint?). Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn (a note "no longer under consideration" will appear above).
Peer review me: Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period (in this case, a "Peer Review Me" button to sign up as reviewer is displayed above). All preprints currently open for review are listed here. Outside of the formal open peer-review period we encourage you to tweet about the preprint.
Citation: Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author).
Final version: If our system detects a final peer-reviewed "version of record" (VoR) published in any journal, a link to that VoR will appear below. Readers are then encourage to cite the VoR instead of this preprint.
Settings: If you are the author, you can login and change the preprint display settings, but the preprint URL/DOI is supposed to be stable and citable, so it should not be removed once posted.
Submit: To post your own preprint, simply submit to any JMIR journal, and choose the appropriate settings to expose your submitted version as preprint.
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
User Experience with Lumbar Puncture Simulators in Geriatric Medicine Training: A Questionnaire Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Lumbar puncture in geriatrics can be challenging, requiring technical skill and operator confidence. Simulation provides a valuable opportunity for medical students to practice in a safe environment. Despite the potential of augmented reality simulators, their impact on user experience (UX) across different levels of clinical expertise remains insufficiently investigated.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the user experience of two lumbar puncture simulators: M43E (Kyoto Kagaku), a static anatomical model commonly used in French simulation centers, and the Sim&Care 2 (InSimo), an augmented reality simulator with haptic feedback that is less widely implemented in routine training curricula.
Methods:
This single-center UX study, conducted at the University Hospital of Angers, used a cross-sectional within-subject design among 30 participants (7 Graduated physicians, 16 postgraduate medical students, 7 sixth-year second-cycle medical students), involved 15-minutes use of each simulator. Participants completed a user experience questionnaire (realism, ease of use, perceived educational value), followed by a comparative questionnaire. Non-parametric paired and group comparisons were performed.
Results:
The Sim&Care 2 was considered more realistic, providing better sensations (P=.003) and helped participants learn something new (P=.005). The M43E was considered simpler to use (P=.013). No significant difference was observed in overall satisfaction. Concerning overall preference, graduated physicians favored the Sim&Care 2 model for its anatomical realism and haptic feedback, while sixth-year second cycle medical students preferred the M43E model for its realistic procedure execution.
Conclusions:
These findings highlight the complementarity of the simulators and the need to select the appropriate simulator for training according to the learners’ level of expertise: traditional mannequin-based simulation for initial procedural familiarization and augmented reality simulation to enhance three-dimensional anatomical understanding and sensory feedback.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.