title: Design of a new instrumented forceps: application to safe obstetrical forceps blade placement.
abstract: Today, medical simulators are increasingly gaining appeal in clinical settings. In obstetrics childbirth simulators provide a training and research tool for comparing various techniques that use obstetrical instruments or validating new methods. Especially in the case of difficult deliveries, the use of obstetrical instruments-such as forceps, spatulas, and vacuum extractors-has become essential. However, such instruments increase the risk of injury to both the mother and fetus. Only clinical experience acquired in the delivery room enables health professionals to reduce this risk. In this context, we have developed, in collaboration with researchers and physicians, a new type of instrumented forceps that offers new solutions for training obstetricians in the safe performance of forceps deliveries. This paper focuses on the design of this instrumented forceps, coupled with the BirthSIM simulator. This instrumented forceps allows to study its displacement inside the maternal pelvis. Methods for analyzing the operator repeatability and to compare forceps blade placements to a reference one are developed. The results highlight the need of teaching tools to adequately train novice obstetricians.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Automatique Industrielle (LAI), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA of Lyon), Villeurbanne 69621, France. richard.moreau@insa-lyon.fr
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.forename: Minh Tu
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.forename: Ruimark
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Silveira
authors.forename: Tanneguy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Redarce
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Brun
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dupuis
mesh_terms: D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D004869:Equipment Safety / Q000379:methods*; D005113:Extraction, Obstetrical / Q000193:education* / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008365:Manometry / Q000295:instrumentation; D009772:Obstetrical Forceps; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D014159:Transducers; D014584:User-Computer Interface