title: Laparoscopic surgery skills evaluation: analysis based on accelerometers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Technical skills assessment is considered an important part of surgical training. Subjective assessment is not appropriate for training feedback, and there is now increased demand for objective assessment of surgical performance. Economy of movement has been proposed as an excellent alternative for this purpose. The investigators describe a readily available method to evaluate surgical skills through motion analysis using accelerometers in Apple's iPod Touch device.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two groups of individuals with different minimally invasive surgery skill levels (experts and novices) were evaluated. Each group was asked to perform a given task with an iPod Touch placed on the dominant-hand wrist. The Accelerometer Data Pro application makes it possible to obtain movement-related data detected by the accelerometers. Average acceleration and maximum acceleration for each axis (x, y, and z) were determined and compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis of average acceleration and maximum acceleration showed statistically significant differences between groups on both the y (P = .04, P = .03) and z (P = .04, P = .04) axes. This demonstrates the ability to distinguish between experts and novices. The analysis of the x axis showed no significant differences between groups, which could be explained by the fact that the task involves few movements on this axis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Accelerometer-based motion analysis is a useful tool to evaluate laparoscopic skill development of surgeons and should be used in training programs. Validation of this device in an in vivo setting is a research goal of the investigators' team.
authors.affiliation: Medicine Faculty, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Medicine Faculty, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Omaira
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Medicine Faculty, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Medicine Faculty, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benítez
authors.affiliation: Surgery Department III, University Hospital of Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Romina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pena
authors.affiliation: Surgery Department III, University Hospital of Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Oriana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Salamo
authors.affiliation: Surgery Department III, University Hospital of Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baez
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000193:education*; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000193:education*
keywords: Accelerometers; Evaluation; Laparoscopic surgery; Training; iPod Touch