A Validation Study of a Virtual-Based Haptic System for Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Training Publisher Pubmed



Sadeghnejad S¹ ; Khadivar F¹ ; Abdollahi E¹ ; Moradi H¹ ; Farahmand F^{1, 2} ; Sadr Hosseini SM³ ; Vossoughi G¹ Show Affiliations
Source: International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery Published:2019

Abstract

Background: The development of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) training simulators for clinical environment applications has reduced the existing shortcomings in conventional teaching methods, creating a standard environment for trainers and trainees in a more accurate and repeatable fashion. Materials and methods: In this research, the validation study of an ESS training simulator has been addressed. It is important to consider components that guide trainees to improve their hand movements control in the orbital floor removal in an ESS operation. Therefore, we defined three tasks to perform: pre-experiment learning, training, and evaluation. In these tasks, the critical regions introduced in the virtual training environment are forbidden to be touched. Recruiting 20 participants, divided into two groups, we investigated the performance metrics: quality (the percentage of the realism for the generated force for orbital floor removal and the usefulness of the proposed training system for the surgical educational curricula.), efficiency (time, path length), and safety (touching the goal and forbidden wall). Results: All recruited participants answered a post-evaluation questionnaire regarding their perceptions of training system realism, potential educational benefits, and practiced skills. We investigate the differences between groups' performance metrics by utilizing the analysis of variance—Kruskal-Wallis test. Acquired results indicate that training before the actual process of the surgery has a significant effect on the accuracy and validity of the process for surgeons. Conclusions: Utilizing a standardized environment, trainers and trainees are able to carry out a process with regular features. In addition to traditional education methods, trainees can learn the risk of surgical operations. The training simulators can, also, provide a standard method for assessing the skills of surgical and medical students. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.