Panagiotis Bamidis's research while affiliated with Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and other places

Background One of health inequalities’ major cause is bad accessibility to healthcare services. We focus on nuclear medicine (NM) examinations, which take place via SPECT and PET scanners, both using radiopharmaceuticals which can prove to be expensive and weather dependent to deliver in island regions. Their production requires expensive to install and run equipment, but a recent project has shed light on a 1970s idea: hybrid used cyclotrons (HC), capable of producing radiopharmaceutical types for both camera types. Methods Many factors need to be considered when conducting cost-minimization analyses (CMA) for public health purposes in island regions: once we decide on the opportunity to install a cyclotron, we need to choose the cyclotron type being the most suitable for the specific need. We perform an economic evaluation of these scenarios for Corsica, Sardinia, Crete and Cyprus using CMA for a period of 20 years, starting in 2025. Results We show that the least costly solution is transport of all radiopharmaceuticals from the mainland for low, normal cyclotron for intermediate and hybrid used cyclotron for sufficiently high number of annual PET examinations. Total costs are quite similar for HC and normal cyclotrons, with HC being the least costly solution for all four islands. The number of years after which either type of cyclotron becomes cost minimizing depends on the total number of PET, rather than SPECT, examinations and varies from <1 to 17 years. Our research shows that if the initial annual number of PET examinations is at least equal to 0.2% of the total population, then cyclotron installation is the most cost minimizing solution. Conclusions Radiopharmaceutical production represents an important outcome, since it affects the accessibility to NM services for isolated regions, like islands. Enhancing accessibility to these healthcare services represents a lever for reducing healthcare inequalities for diseases such as cancer. This analysis can be adapted to other island regions, such as Canary Islands, New-Caledonia, etc., but also remote mainland locations. For remote places with expected annual number of PET examinations at least equal to 0.2% of the population, local radiopharmaceutical production is the least costly solution.

Virtual reality has long existed, but its wider adoption in education is recent. Studies informed by theoretical underpinned co-creation frameworks and utilization of theoretical informed evaluations are scarce in literature. Thus, this study internationally evaluated the efficacy of three virtual reality reusable e-resources (VRReRs), co-created based on the ASPIRE framework, for teaching clinical skills to university students. The study followed a mixed-methods approach, combining SUS, SUS Presence Questionnaire, TAM, and UTAUT2 with a focus group discussion. Additionally, for one VRReR, a quantitative pre/post evaluation of knowledge and comparison with lecture notes followed. Results demonstrated moderately to highly usability, effectively facilitated a strong sense of presence, confidence while using them, and willingness to continue using VRReRs in the future, while increased knowledge of the learners, highlighted their effectiveness. Although some usability issues were identified, these were considered easy to address. This work evidence, in an international context, that co-created VR resources are highly acceptable and effective, similar to other types of digital or traditional resources developed through participatory inquiry paradigm. By leveraging the benefits of VR technology, VRReRs have the potential to transform and enhance the learning experience in the field of clinical skills, ultimately advancing the digitalization of higher education.

Introduction The expansive curricular volume of healthcare education makes a necessity the incorporation of innovative methods and immersive media in it. The core challenge in such approaches is the timely development of relevant immersive content such as Virtual, Augmented or Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR) resources for healthcare topics. There is currently significant interest in the use of co-creative methods for streamlining immersive content development. Methods A core research pursuit in this translational research field is the formulation of evidence-based, optimized workflows that streamline immersive content creation allowing for rapid expansion of innovative educational approaches in healthcare curricula. The purpose of this paper is to aggregate the perceptions of healthcare technologists and educators who participated in a series of co-creation sessions in order to elicit their best practice insights for design and development of XR educational resources using co-creative methods. Results According to our thematic analysis, findings of the qualitative study demonstrated that a rigorous organizational approach is required to maintain a constructive exchange of information and to keep the design process alive for both content and technical experts. In addition, rapid prototype and display of co-created features can empower their contributions and help them design more efficiently. Discussion Co-creative content production can benefit from adaption of existing frameworks and lightweight authoring environments that can facilitate generalized XR content development use cases.

To ensure optimal clinical learning environments for students in the medical and allied health professions, it is essential to establish robust quality processes. Within the HEALINT4ALL ERASMUS + project an evidence-based protocol to assess the quality of placements for Medicine and Allied Health Professions (AHPs) in clinical environments created. While the existence of a protocol itself is useful, its application can be proved difficult, as relevant forms and audit processes should be established. Audit of clinical placements is time demanding process in an already busy healthcare setting, while exchange of audits between higher education institutions (HEI) and HEI and clinical placements may be lengthy due to internal forms and processes. Thus, a digital interactive platform for European and national placements audit following a user-centered design created. Stakeholders’ workshops and an iterative evaluation process ensured the usability and acceptability of the platform, complemented by Nielsen’s heuristic evaluation within a group of experts in education technology or quality assurance of placement. The proposed platform supports a globally prepared medical and AHPs international workforce able to transfer skills and practice and offer best interventions to enhance patient treatment, by providing a more effective process and faster appraisal of clinical environments.