Development of tasks and evaluation of a prototype forceps for NOTES.
OBJECTIVE
Few standardized testing procedures exist for instruments intended for Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery. These testing procedures are critical for evaluating surgical skills and surgical instruments to ensure sufficient quality. This  need is widely recognized by endoscopic surgeons as a major hurdle for the advancement of Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery.


METHODS
Beginning with tasks currently used to evaluate laparoscopic surgeons and instruments, new tasks were designed to evaluate endoscopic  surgical forceps instruments.


RESULTS
Six tasks have been developed from existing tasks, adapted and modified for use with endoscopic instruments, or newly designed to test additional features of endoscopic forceps. The new tasks include the Fuzzy Ball Task, Cup Drop Task, Ring  Around Task, Material Pull Task, Simulated Biopsy Task, and the Force Gauge Task. These tasks were then used to evaluate the performance of a new forceps instrument designed at Pennsylvania State University.


CONCLUSIONS
The need for testing procedures for the advancement of Natural  Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery has been addressed in this work. The developed tasks form a basis for not only testing new forceps instruments, but also for evaluating individual performance of surgical candidates with endoscopic forceps instruments.
Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Matthew
M
Addis
Milton
M
Aguirre
Mary
M
Frecker
Randy
R
Haluck
Abraham
A
Matthew
Eric
E
Pauli
Jegan
J
Gopal
D002983:Clinical Competence; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D057605:Natural Orifice Endoscopic Surgery / Q000193:education / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis