title: Electromyographic correlates of learning during robotic surgical training in virtual reality.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the muscle activation and the muscle frequency response of the dominant arm muscles (flexor carpi radialis and extensor digitorum) and hand muscles (abductor pollicis and first dorsal interosseous) during robotic surgical skills training in a virtual environment. The virtual surgical training tasks consisted of bimanual carrying, needle passing and mesh alignment. The experimental group (n=5) was trained by performing four blocks of the virtual surgical tasks using the da Vinci™ surgical robot. During the pre- and post-training tests, all subjects were tested by performing a suturing task on a "life-like" suture pad. The control group (n=5) performed only the suturing task without any virtual task training. Differences between pre- and post-training tests were significantly greater in the virtual reality group, as compared to the control group in the muscle activation of the hand muscle (abductor pollicis) for both the suture tying and the suture running (p<0.05). In conclusion, changes in electrographic activity shows that training in virtual reality leads to specific changes in neuromotor control of robotic surgical tasks.
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, Center for Advanced Surgical Technology, Department of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Irene H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Mukul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schrack
authors.forename: Shi-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jung-Hung
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oleynikov
authors.forename: Ka-Chun
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Siu
mesh_terms: D001132:Arm / Q000502:physiology; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012371:Robotics / Q000379:methods*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface