Date of this Version

12-7-2023

Document Type

DNP Project

Abstract

Abstract

Background: Patients presenting for surgical procedures have increasingly complex medical co- morbidities and require vigilant monitoring. The anesthesia provider's direct view of the patient and monitors can be obstructed by the surgical positioning or the room's configuration in the intraoperative period. The anesthetist may be unable to view the display screen while performing intricate tasks such as arterial catheterization, direct laryngoscopy, US-guided central venous access, peripheral nerve blocks, and regional anesthetic procedures. Smart Glasses (SG) improves patient care and safety in the complex anesthesia realm as the technology affords the provider mobility, an unobstructed view of the hemodynamics, a direct view of the ultrasound screen, decreased excessive head shifting and improving success with procedural tasks and peripheral nerve blocks.

Methods: The primary methodology of the quality improvement project is to implement an online educational module to anesthesia providers that focuses on the utilization of the smart glasses as an adjunct during anesthesia and procedural tasks to decrease medical and human errors in the perioperative period. Qualtrics pre- and post-test surveys were employed to gauge the efficacy of the educational module and to evaluate the influence on anesthesia provider knowledge and attitudes.

Results: Findings pointed to a significant increase in anesthesia provider knowledge and overall attitudes towards using smart glasses during the administration of anesthesia. 5 participants completed the pre-test and post-test (n=5). The average amount of anesthesia providers inclined to utilize smart glasses during the provision of anesthesia was 40.00% in the pre-test and 60.00% in the post-test. Overall, knowledge of the benefits of the smart glass technology to the anesthesia provider also increases from 40.00% in the pre-test to 70.00% in the post-test.

Conclusion: All studies demonstrated that SG could improve perioperative patient management and there are several applications of SG technology in the field of anesthesia. Vital sign streaming with SG or similar platforms is feasible and may enhance procedural situational awareness. The provider can wirelessly transmit assessment data to the attending, providing flexibility and increasing efficient informed remote decision-making. SG increases the first-time intubation success, documents airway assessment, and captures more comprehensive data. The SG assist in ultrasound-guided cannulation of an artery or central vein as it gives the user a direct view of the ultrasound machine without the user having to shift the head or change their view. The Smart Glasses enable users to share what they see with people and other users in other physical places. The SG improves US-guided regional anesthetic block's first-attempt success rate, provider ergonomics, and reduced first-attempt procedure time and overall complication rates.

Keywords: Smart glasses, Google Glass, Head-Worn Display Device, Head-Mounted Display, Augmented Reality-Assist Device, Anesthesia Management, Perioperative Period.

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