Mastering procedures like lumbar puncture remains one of the greatest challenges for medical students — a delicate balance between technical precision, patient safety, and emotional confidence. InSimo’s Sim&Care | Spine simulator bridges this gap by combining augmented reality, haptic feedback, and anatomical accuracy to deliver a fully immersive learning experience. Backed by clinical research from Strasbourg University Hospital, this innovative training tool has proven to enhance skill acquisition, reduce stress, and improve patient outcomes. By merging technology and pedagogy, InSimo is redefining how invasive procedures are learned — safely, effectively, and without risk to patients.
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“Simulation-based education has demonstrated statistical benefits in learning, skill acquisition, feedback, and stress reduction.”¹
Lumbar puncture – a stressful medical procedure that is difficult to master
Lumbar puncture is a common medical procedure that can be stressful for both patients and medical students. This potentially painful procedure, which carries a risk of complications, is still often learned by students through direct practice on patients. In France, 1 in 2 students fails their first lumbar puncture. As with any medical procedure, proper training and a solid understanding of anatomy, indications and contraindications, as well as the technical steps of the procedure, are essential to ensure both the success of the procedure and patient safety.
Enhancing healthcare professionals’ training experience through medical simulation
In September, a new study conducted by the rheumatology department at Strasbourg University Hospital was published in the scientific journal BMC Medical Education. This research demonstrates the effectiveness of training on Sim&Care | Spine: a simulator developed by InSimo that allows users to master the lumbar puncture procedure to perfection thanks to augmented reality and force feedback. These results demonstrate the impact of simulation-based training:
- Patients reported greater ease and higher satisfaction with simulator-trained students.
- Students trained with the simulator expressed greater ease and comfort while performing lumbar punctures.
- Simulator-based training has helped reduce the duration of the procedure, making the intervention more efficient.
Sim&Care | Spine: real sensations on virtual patients
Sim&Care | Spine is an educational tool that immerses the user in a highly realistic environment: anatomical resistance and needle interaction with the patient’s anatomy, augmented reality and transparent visualization of key anatomical structures, immersive sound environment and simulation of patient emotions, and physical palpation on a lumbar mannequin. Unlimited lumbar puncture training – with no consumables and, most importantly, no risk to the patient.
Combining technical, educational, and medical expertise to deliver the best simulation experience
This simulator was born from the collaboration between InSimo teams and the Rheumatology Department of Strasbourg University Hospitals, who pooled their expertise to develop an educational tool that effectively meets the needs of medical training. Thanks to the support of Lilly France, InSimo has already provided over 250 training sessions using the Sim&Care | Spine and Sim&Care | Knee simulators in French hospital rheumatology and neurology departments, for both students and doctors.
Sim&Care | Spine is compatible with any procedural mannequin on the market. The 2.0 version of the simulator, released in 2025, has been optimized to offer seamless integration with Kyoto Kagaku’s lumbar puncture mannequin, following InSimo’s partnership with the company.
A complete range for training in various invasive procedures
InSimo also offers two other simulators built on the same mutualized hardware platform:
- Sim&Care | Chest: thoracentesis training, including lungs ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis, locate the pleural effusion, and identify its limits. A clinical study is currently underway at Strasbourg university hospital to validate the training value of this simulator.
- Sim&Care | Knee: knee arthrocentesis and injection training, including ultrasound-guided procedure for real time guidance of the gesture.
Their experience
- “I really enjoyed the Sim&Care | Spine simulator experience. We could visualize the patient’s anatomy in 3D with the augmented reality headset. It gave me a better understanding of how to insert the needle during a lumbar puncture; a vision that you don’t have in reality.”
Eloi S., 4th year medical student at Strasbourg University
“Today, it is necessary to create means to simulate all invasive procedures in medicine so that students are well trained and, above all, well prepared without trying the first time on a patient, as stipulated by the fundamental principle of the HAS: this is the promise of Sim&Care for lumbar puncture training.”
MD Renaud Felten, Head of Clinic, Rheumatology – University Hospital of Hautepierre – Strasbourg
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