What do surgeons see: capturing and synchronizing eye gaze for surgery applications.

Area of Science:

• Medical Technology
• Surgical Training
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Recording eye movements in surgical settings presents significant technical challenges.
• Improving surgical training through objective performance metrics is an ongoing area of research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and challenges of using eye-tracking technology for surgical training.
• To compare different eye-tracking systems in laboratory and real operating room (OR) environments.
• To identify solutions for integrating eye-tracking into the OR workflow and data processing.

Main Methods:

• Utilized three distinct eye-tracking systems: a head-mounted device, a monitor-integrated high-resolution tracker, and a detached-camera high-resolution tracker.
• Evaluated systems in simulated and actual operating room environments during 11 laparoscopic procedures.
• Assessed system capabilities for capturing gaze shifts, eye-hand coordination, and logistical integration.

Main Results:

• Head-mounted trackers captured general gaze but lacked resolution for detailed surgical display analysis.
• Monitor-integrated trackers offered high resolution for laboratory studies but were limited by tracking distance in the OR.
• A detached-camera system successfully recorded surgeon gaze during live laparoscopic surgeries, despite logistical and data processing hurdles.

Conclusions:

• Eye-tracking holds promise for enhancing surgical training and performance analysis.
• Successful implementation requires careful selection of equipment based on specific needs (resolution vs. tracking distance).
• Addressing logistical challenges and data processing is crucial for unobtrusive integration into the OR workflow.