{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T17:41:42Z","timestamp":1787938902647,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,26]],"date-time":"2023-09-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1695686400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Simulation-based learning within neurosurgery provides valuable and realistic educational experiences in a safe environment, enhancing the current teaching model. Mixed reality (MR) simulation can deliver a highly immersive experience through head-mounted displays and has become one of the most promising teaching tools in medical education. We aimed to identify whether an MR neurosurgical simulation module within the setting of an undergraduate neurosurgical hands-on course could improve the satisfaction of medical students. Materials and Methods: The quasi-experimental study with 223 medical students [120 in the conventional group (CG) and 103 in the MR-group (MRG)] was conducted at the University Hospital M\u00fcnster, M\u00fcnster, Germany. An MR simulation module was presented to the intervention group during an undergraduate neurosurgical hands-on course. Images of a skull fracture were reconstructed into 3D formats compatible with the MR-Viewer (Brainlab, Munich, Germany). Participants could interact virtually with the model and plan a surgical strategy using Magic Leap goggles. The experience was assessed by rating the course on a visual analog scale ranging from 1 (very poor) to 100 (very good) and an additional Likert-scale questionnaire. Results: The satisfaction score for CG and MRG were 89.3 \u00b1 13.3 and 94.2 \u00b1 7.5, respectively. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test showed that MR users (Mdn = 97.0, IQR = 4, n = 103) were significantly more satisfied than CG users (Mdn = 93.0, IQR = 10, n = 120; ln(W) = 8.99, p &lt; 0.001) with moderate effect size (r^biserial = 0.30, CI95 [0.15, 0.43]), thus indicating that the utilization of MR-simulation is associated with greater satisfaction. Conclusions: This study reports a positive response from medical students towards MR as an educational tool. Feedback from the medical students encourages the adoption of disruptive technologies into medical school curricula.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina59101720","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,26]],"date-time":"2023-09-26T03:45:23Z","timestamp":1695699923000},"page":"1720","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Mixed Reality as a Teaching Tool for Medical Students in Neurosurgery"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"59","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5068-7694","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arturo","family":"Silvero Isidre","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Neurosurgery, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, 48149 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9671-5235","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hendrik","family":"Friederichs","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical School OWL, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9427-5555","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael","family":"M\u00fcther","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Neurosurgery, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, 48149 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Gallus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Neurosurgery, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, 48149 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Walter","family":"Stummer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Neurosurgery, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, 48149 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2167-0789","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Markus","family":"Holling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Neurosurgery, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, 48149 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wneu.2017.08.125","article-title":"Fostering Student Interest in Neurologic Surgery: The University of Pittsburgh Experience","volume":"108","author":"Kashkoush","year":"2017","journal-title":"World Neurosurg."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"448","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wneu.2020.04.248","article-title":"Medical Student Interest and Recruitment in Neurosurgery","volume":"141","author":"Stumpo","year":"2020","journal-title":"World Neurosurg."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e631","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wneu.2020.09.015","article-title":"Neurosurgery Education in the Medical School Curriculum: A Scoping Review","volume":"144","author":"Lee","year":"2020","journal-title":"World Neurosurg."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e237","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wneu.2020.08.100","article-title":"Democratizing Access to Neurosurgical Medical Education: National Efforts in a Medical Student Training Camp During Coronavirus Disease 2019","volume":"144","author":"Segar","year":"2020","journal-title":"World Neurosurg."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1350","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsurg.2020.11.003","article-title":"A Comprehensive Multicomponent Neurosurgical Course with use of Virtual Reality: Modernizing the Medical Classroom","volume":"78","author":"Atli","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. 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