Development of a Platform in Augmented Reality for Remote Surgical Training in the Context of Health Emergencies and Environmental Disasters
Tarciso Bruno Montenegro Sampaio, Amália Cinthia Meneses do Rêgo, Irami Araújo-Filho
In the wake of escalating health emergencies and environmental disasters, the ability to provide timely
and effective surgical training has become a strategic priority for global health systems. Traditional
educational models, heavily dependent on in-person mentorship and access to fully equipped clinical
environments, often fail under extreme conditions. Augmented reality (AR) offers an innovative
alternative by enabling immersive, interactive, and scalable remote training that can be rapidly deployed
even in resource-constrained settings. This integrative review explores the current landscape of AR
applications in remote surgical education, particularly emphasizing their role in emergency medicine
and disaster response. Across diverse studies, AR demonstrated significant potential to enhance
procedural instruction, simulate complex scenarios, and support decision-making under pressure.
However, widespread adoption remains limited due to persistent barriers, including a lack of longterm validation, insufficient integration into standardized curricula, and minimal deployment in realworld emergencies. Additional challenges include ethical concerns, digital infrastructure disparities,
and limited cross-cultural adaptability. This review underscores the urgency of bridging these gaps by
promoting interdisciplinary innovation, policy alignment, and robust field-based research. AR represents
a transformative frontier in graduate medical education—one capable of strengthening global surgical
preparedness and resilience when it is most urgently needed.
