NCT05269238: APLOSIM

Improvement of the Performance of Lumbar Punctures After Training Students With an Augmented Reality SIMulator

Completed NA Last updated 20 January 2026

What this trial tests

NA trial testing performing lumbar punctures by students with standard training in Lumbar Puncture in 60 participants. Completed in 15 November 2023.

Timeline

2 December 2021

Primary endpoint
15 November 2023

15 November 2023

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University Hospital, Strasbourg, France
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	other
Enrollment	60
Start date	2 December 2021
Primary completion	15 November 2023
Estimated completion	15 November 2023
Sites	1 location across France

Drugs / interventions tested

• performing lumbar punctures by students with standard training
• training students augmented reality simulator

Conditions studied

• Lumbar Puncture — all drugs for Lumbar Puncture →

Sponsor

University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Lumbar Puncture. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Lumbar punctures (LP) are frequent invasive procedures that are anxiety-provoking for both the patient and the clinicans performing the procedure. LP is performed by many practitioners, whether they are emergency physicians, neurologists, neurosurgeons, internists or rheumatologists. Learning how to perform LP is essentially done at the patient's bed by showing the students how a procedure is performed and then having them perform it directly on a patient afterwards. The recent development of simulation in health care with the credo "never the first time on the patient" requires the development of training devices faithful to reality.

The rheumatology department of the Strasbourg University Hospital has been working for 3 years, in collaboration with the Strasbourg start-up InSimo, on the development of an LP simulator. This simulator is original because it allows the feeling by pressure of the passage of the various structures, and in particular the yellow ligament. This sensation is made possible by a haptic force feedback device.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Augmented Reality in Minimally Invasive Spinal Interventions: Current Use and Future Directions.
   Pruthi A, Alexander T, Mengaliyeva A, Kota N, et al · · 2025 · cited 2× · PMID 40190981 · DOI 10.7759/cureus.80119
2. Advancing medical training with augmented reality and haptic feedback simulator: outcomes of a randomized controlled trial on lumbar puncture.
   Felten R, Bigaut K, Wirth T, Kremer L, et al · · 2025 · cited 1× · PMID 40885925 · DOI 10.1186/s12909-025-07536-6