Development of a method to compare microsurgery techniques across different levels of surgical experience

Abstract

Object: Surgical training is often seen as very timely and cost consuming as it requires multiple interactions with other experienced physicians. Through the use of video motion capture (VMC), novice surgeon's skills will be compared objectively to those of more experienced surgeons. Methods: VMC was used to capture the movements of four neurosurgery residents performing five simple tasks: (1) threading the needle through the provided plastic vessel; (2) pulling the needle through the provided plastic vessel; and (3,4,5) tying the suture three times. Results: It was concluded that experienced subjects recorded more accurate and precise motions within a shorter amount of time when compared to novice subjects. There was a decrease in time, elapsed path, and thumb tip distance with increasing experience. Conclusions: The use of VMC proves to be a successful way to compare the differences between different levels of surgical expertise and we hope that this research will impact training paradigms for future surgical trainees. Keywords: Neurology, Neurosurgery, Medical education, Surgical training, Human motion, Motion capture