Objective  The aim of this study was to evaluate the training effect of two different simulators of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE).

  Methods  Sixty-three residents who received the standardized training and volunteered to participate in this project in the Department of Anesthesiology of Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 1st to December 31st, 2016 were perspectively enrolled and randomly divided into 3 groups (21 in each group):Heartworks group (using Heartworks simulator), U/S Mentor group (using U/S Mentor simulator), and the control group (traditional teaching method). The evaluation index of teaching effect included the written test scores about the TTE basic knowledge before and after training(the total score was 100 points), the practice examination on volunteer models after the trainingincluding the quality of images (the total score was 25 points) and the ability of identifying cardiac anatomical structures (the total score was 25 points), and the satisfaction assessment by the participants (3 levels).

  Results  The written test scores of the Heartworks, U/S Mentor, and the control groups before training were 41.4±10.6, 40.4±10.9, and 39.8±10.5, respectively; there was no statistical difference among the three groups (P > 0.05). The scores of the above three groups after training were 53.8±12.6, 52.6±13.6, and 43.3±10.8, respectively, which were higher than before (all P < 0.05) in each group, and there was no statistical difference between the Heartworks and the U/S Mentor groups (P>0.05), while both were higher than that of the control group (both P < 0.05). After the training, the scores of image quality of the Heartworks, U/S Mentor, and the control group were 17.1±4.5, 16.0±4.1, and 7.7±3.1, respectively; and the scores of recognition of cardiac anatomical structures were 18.2±6.3, 17.0±6.1, and 11.9±6.9, respectively; there were no statistical difference between the Heartworks and the U/S Mentor groups (P > 0.05), while both groups had higher scores than the control group (both P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference in the satisfaction among the three groups.

  Conclusions  The TTE training effect of the Heartworks and U/S Mentor simulators is similar, and both modes are better than the traditional training mode based on the lecture.