In an on-screen ultrasound simulator the probe is a mouse: it goes where you send it, at no cost. On the patient it is not like that. The probe meets bone, slips on gel, runs into bowel, and the pressure you apply changes the image as much as the angle does.
In ScanTrainer the probe is a haptic arm, with force feedback. That is what separates learning the gesture from learning a sequence of clicks.
On the other side sits ScanTutor. It follows the examination and answers immediately on three distinct things: whether the image was acquired, whether the structure was recognised, and whether the measurement is right. Those are three different errors, with three different corrections, and an instructor covering six trainees cannot separate them for everyone at once.
The library runs past 1,000 real patient scans, covering transvaginal, transabdominal and spectral Doppler in obstetrics. A cloud case generator lets the department upload its own scans, and the learning management system tracks each trainee's progress and allows custom programmes to be built.
