Depth cue reliance in surgeons and medical students.
BACKGROUND
Depth perception is reduced in endoscopic surgery, although little is known about the effect this has on surgical performance.


METHODS
To assess the role of depth cues, 45 subjects completed tests of depth cue reliance. Surgical skill was assessed using the Minimally Invasive Surgical Trainer-Virtual Reality, a previously validated laparoscopic simulator.


RESULTS
We could demonstrate no difference in cue reliance for three depth cues--namely stereo, texture, and outline--between surgeons and medical students. Greater dominance on stereo for medical students was a positive finding and a negative finding for the surgeons when correlated with surgical performance.


CONCLUSIONS
We suggest that surgeons learn to adapt to the nonstereo environment in MIS, and this is the first study to show evidence of this phenomenon. This difference in stereo reliance is a reflection of the experience that surgeons have with laparoscopy compared with medical students, who have none.
Shah
J
J
Academic Surgical Unit, Imperial College School of Medicine, St. Mary's Hospital, 10th Floor, QEQM Building, Praed Street, London W2 1NY, United Kingdom. jyoti.shah@ic.ac.uk
Buckley
D
D
Frisby
J
J
Darzi
A
A
D000328:Adult; D017081:Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003196:Computer Graphics; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003463:Cues; D003867:Depth Perception; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D013502:General Surgery; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014787:Vision Tests