Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc announced NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has incorporated the company's NeedleTrainer and ScanNav Anatomy Peripheral Nerve Block (PNB) in its anaesthesia training program.   Intelligent Ultrasound's Classroom to Clinic package is designed to meet the two key challenges of ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia (UGRA): capturing and interpreting ultrasound images and inserting the needle to deposit local anaesthetic at a target site. The risks of poorly performed UGRA and ultrasound-guided needle insertion are well documented, including damage to nerves that can lead to chronic pain, loss of sensation and muscle weakness.

Poor identification of structures on ultrasound can lead to needle trauma to blood vessels, the lung, bowel and kidney.   NeedleTrainer uses a retractable needle and virtual image overlays to simulate needling non-invasively on a live participant, using an authentic live ultrasound scan. This enables trainees to develop hand-eye coordination, optimum positioning, and accuracy in ultrasound-guided interventional procedures in a realistic clinical environment with minimal risk.

  ScanNav Anatomy PNB produces a colour overlay on real-time ultrasound to support scanning for UGRA. A recent study published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia showed that availability of ScanNav Anatomy PNB was associated with an increase in the number of blocks performed by anesthesiologists, without a decrease in quality of care.   As a teaching package, this provides increased efficiency, whereby education can be carried out in a cost-effective and scalable manner, with enhanced educational outcomes.

The platforms will be used at the School of Medicine, University of St Andrews where Dr. Alasdair Taylor and co-director Dr. James Bowness will use NeedleTrainer as part of their two-day Regional Anaesthesia: Plan A Blocks course.