title: Sensor fusion for laparoscopic surgery skill acquisition.
abstract: Surgical techniques are becoming more complex and require substantial training to master. The development of automated, objective methods to analyze and evaluate surgical skill is necessary to provide trainees with reliable and accurate feedback during their training programs. We present a system to capture, visualize, and analyze the movements of a laparoscopic surgeon for the purposes of skill evaluation. The system records the upper body movement of the surgeon, the position, and orientation of the instruments, and the force and torque applied to the instruments. An empirical study was conducted using the system to record the performances of a number of surgeons with a wide range of skill. The study validated the usefulness of the system, and demonstrated the accuracy of the measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. frasera@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Fraser
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Birch
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boulanger
authors.forename: Walter F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Bischof
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000379:methods; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000193:education*; D008297:Male; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000193:education*; D013525:Surgical Instruments; D013597:Systems Analysis; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014741:Video Recording