title: Towards virtual FLS: development of a peg transfer simulator.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Peg transfer is one of five tasks in the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS), program. This paper reports the development and validation of a Virtual Basic Laparoscopic Skill Trainer-Peg Transfer (VBLaST-PT(©) ) simulator for automatic real-time scoring and objective quantification of performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  New techniques have been introduced in order to allow bi-manual manipulation of pegs and automatic scoring/evaluation while maintaining high quality of simulation. A preliminary face and construct validation study was performed with 22 subjects divided into two groups: experts (PGY 4-5, fellow and practicing surgeons) and novice (PGY 1-3).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Face validation shows high scores for all aspects of the simulation. Two-tailed Mann-Whitney U-test scores showed significant differences between the two groups on completion time (P = 0.003), FLS score (P =0.002) and the VBLaST-PT© score (P = 0.006).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VBLaST-PT(©) is a high quality virtual simulator that showed both face and construct validity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, USA.
authors.forename: Venkata S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Arikatla
authors.forename: Woojin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Ganesh
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sankaranarayanan
authors.forename: Suvranu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003201:Computers; D004867:Equipment Design; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D065287:Robotic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D012371:Robotics / Q000379:methods*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014110:Touch; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: construct validation; face validation; haptics; minimally invasive surgery; physics-based simulation; surgical simulation; virtual reality
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