SK-Patient

The concept of creating an interactive mobile app for the pre-operative education of neurosurgical patients was developed in collaboration with computer designers in Finland. The SK-Patient app gives the pre-operative patient a chance to visualize components of their procedure while the clinician is explaining the operative procedure in real-time. Shortly after the app was introduced to the Saskatoon neuromodulation program, a study was conducted evaluating patient outcomes when using the SK-Patient for pre-operative teaching compared to the traditional methods, such as pictures and literature. The study concluded that patients that received their pre-operative education with the SK-Patient had a significant decrease in anxiety regarding their upcoming surgery.

The SK-Patient continues to be an effective education tool for the Saskatoon Neuromodulation Program and has the future potential to be utilized in other areas of surgery.