title: Usefulness of an optical tracking system in laparoscopic surgery for motor skills assessment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of this study is to assess the usefulness of an evaluation system of surgical skills based on motion analysis of laparoscopic instruments.
  
  
  METHODS
  This system consists of a physical laparoscopic simulator and a tracking and assessment system of technical skills in laparoscopy. Six surgeons with intermediate experience (between 1 and 50 laparoscopic surgeries) and 5 experienced surgeons (more than 50 laparoscopic surgeries) took part in this study. All participants were right-handed. The subjects performed 3 repetitions of a cutting task on synthetic tissue with the right hand, dissection of a gastric serous layer, and a suturing task in the dissection previously done. Objective metrics such as time, path length, speed of movements, acceleration and motion smoothness were analyzed for the instruments of each hand.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the cutting task, experienced surgeons show less acceleration (P=.014) and a smoother motion (P=.023) using the scissors. Regarding the dissection activity, experienced surgeons need less time (P=.006) and less length with both instruments (P=.006 for dissector and P=.01 for scissors). In the suturing task, experienced surgeons require less time (P=.037) and distance travelled (P=.041) by the dissector.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows the usefulness of the evaluation system for the cutting, dissecting, and suturing tasks. It represents a significant step in the development of advanced systems for training and assessment of surgical skills in laparoscopic surgery.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Bioingeniería y Tecnologías Sanitarias, Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión Jesús Usón, Cáceres, España. Electronic address: jasanchez@ccmijesususon.com.
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Margallo
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Laparoscopia, Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión Jesús Usón, Cáceres, España.
authors.forename: Francisco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Margallo
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Bioingeniería y Tecnologías Sanitarias, Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión Jesús Usón, Cáceres, España.
authors.forename: José B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Pagador Carrasco
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Bioingeniería y Telemedicina, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, España; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Zaragoza, España.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Oropesa García
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Bioingeniería y Telemedicina, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, España; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Zaragoza, España.
authors.forename: Enrique J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Gómez Aguilera
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Robótica y Visión Artificial, Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, España.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moreno del Pozo
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000193:education*; D009048:Motor Skills; D000066908:Simulation Training
keywords: Assessment of surgical skills; Evaluación de destrezas quirúrgicas; Habilidades motoras; Laparoscopia; Laparoscopy; Motor skills; Simulación; Simulation