Title: Virtual physical examination (VPE): a multimedia system for education in medicine

Authors: Trupti Joshi; Robert Williamson; Kapil Patil; Suwit Viyanon; Xiangge Li; Yufu Zhang; Wenchuan Qi; Dong Li; Jeremy Zimmer; Uday Illindala; Shawn Foley; Robert Campbell; Ye Duan; Dong Xu

Addresses: Department of Computer Science, Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, Informatics Institute, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA ' Department of Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA ' Department of Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA ' Department of Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA ' Department of Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA ' Department of Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA ' Department of Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA ' Department of Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA ' Cerner Corporation - Cerner Learning Services, Kansas City, MO 64137, USA ' Cerner Corporation - Cerner Learning Services, Kansas City, MO 64137, USA ' Cerner Corporation - Cerner Learning Services, Kansas City, MO 64137, USA ' Cerner Corporation - Cerner Learning Services, Kansas City, MO 64137, USA ' Department of Computer Science, Informatics Institute, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA ' Department of Computer Science, Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, Informatics Institute, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA

Abstract: The virtual physical examination (VPE) platform is a web-based, multimedia system for medical examination education, distributed and supported by Cerner. The system was built using MySQL, Flash and PHP and developed for creating and conducting physical examinations on virtual patient cases in a simulated environment. VPE allows users to perform physical examinations virtually on patients. A user can create 3D avatars of patients, build medical cases, perform diagnosis and attach associated files including audio, video, image, text and interactive assets. VPE allows for controlled sharing of assets as well as full cases, either within the same organisation or publicly. A video demonstrating VPE can be found at http://digbio.missouri.edu/Cerner/Cerner_VPE_Demo.mp4. VPE has broad educational applications ranging from the basic introduction of medicine to high school students to advanced education for nursing and medical students. The solution is used to both teach and reinforce physical exam concepts. VPE is available at https://vpe.cernerlearningmanager.com.

Keywords: informatics systems; virtual learning environments; VLE; medical education; multimedia; VPE; virtual physical examination; medicine; medical examination; virtual patients; simulation; 3D avatars; nursing students; medical students.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFIPM.2014.068176

International Journal of Functional Informatics and Personalised Medicine, 2014 Vol.4 No.3/4, pp.181 - 197

Accepted: 20 Apr 2014
Published online: 22 Mar 2015 *

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