The role of 3D digital applications in manual therapy education – A scoping review

Background

Currently, teaching methods for developing physical assessment and palpation skills in manual therapy is challenging for both learners and educators. 3D digital technologies such as virtual reality (VR) may facilitate and/or address these challenges. However, their current usage in improving learning outcomes in manual therapy education is unknown.

Methods

The following electronic databases were searched from Jan 2005 to April 2021: PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), Science Direct and Google Scholar. Two independent reviewers reviewed the articles to assess for eligibility. Studies of any methodology that investigated the use or application of the 3D digital applications were included in the review. Primary outcomes included any outcome related to learning based on the updated Blooms taxonomy. Narrative synthesis was used to synthesize data from the included studies.

Results

A total of 4 articles were included in the final review. The main findings were classified into the following key concepts: (1) perception of tissue stiffness, (2) improved student self-efficacy in performing MT techniques, and (3) barriers and facilitators for utilizing 3D technologies. All included outcomes met understanding, applying, analysing and evaluating levels of Blooms taxonomy; however, no outcomes met the ‘creating’ level of Bloom's taxonomy.

Discussion

Our review found that there are no AR, VR or mixed applications that specifically serve the needs of MT education in relation to joint motion assessment, but applications are available that can be readily used or potentially adapted to train skills of tissue palpation.