Development, validation and effect of a technological tool as innovation in teaching-learning practice

• Grant number: 22/15922-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Anice de Campos Pássaro
• Grantee: Anice de Campos Pássaro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Edgard Morya

Abstract

University pedagogy has received more attention, especially considering the ways to bring health care students closer to their clinical practice. More specifically, in the area of women's health, there is a need for students to learn how to perform a bidigital assessment of the pelvic floor muscles, in order to guide the care of women with urogynecological complaints. As it is an invasive and intimate intervention, the training that precedes clinical practice must be objective and close to the practical action that will be carried out. Therefore, seeking technological innovation as a teaching-learning practice for higher education teaching and considering the student's approach to the reality of clinical practice, the aim of this study is to develop, validate and verify the effect of a haptic tool, on a mannequin, which simulates a functional assessment of the actual pelvic floor. The study will be carried out in three stages: i) step 1- an integrative literature review will be carried out in order to verify how the contraction of the pelvic floor muscles occurs, in mechanical and neural terms; ii) step 2 - a haptic tool will be developed and validated with the aim of simulating the grading of female pelvic floor muscle function according to the Ortiz Scale (Grade 0 to 4); iii) step 3 - a randomized clinical trial will be carried out to verify the effect of the tool on the training of undergraduate students in physiotherapy and medicine. Expected results: It is expected that through step 1 we will be able to identify in the literature the neural, mechanical and localization pattern of the action of the pelvic floor muscles in the vaginal canal. In step 2, these data will be transferred to servo motors, via Arduino board, simulating the torque that corresponds to muscle contraction, as well as its spatial location. In step 3, it is expected to validate the developed tool and improve it to simulate the action of female pelvic floor muscles, for adequate training of students in the physiotherapy and medicine course, so that they acquire specific skills before evaluating women in practice clinic. (AU)