Preliminary evaluation of the pattern cutting and the ligating loop virtual laparoscopic trainers

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Medical Simulation
• Laparoscopic Surgery Training

Background:

• The Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) trainer is the standard for laparoscopic skills assessment.
• Its manual scoring system is subjective and time-consuming.
• The Virtual Basic Laparoscopic Skill Trainer (VBLaST©) offers automatic, real-time assessment and force feedback.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the VBLaST© pattern cutting (VBLaST-PC©) and ligating loop (VBLaST-LL©) tasks.
• To compare performance on VBLaST© versus the FLS trainer.
• To assess if surgical experience correlates with performance on both trainers.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-five subjects (novices and experts) performed pattern cutting and ligating loop tasks on FLS and VBLaST© trainers.
• Performance scores were calculated and compared between trainers and experience groups.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in scores were found between the FLS and VBLaST© trainers for either task.
• Expert scores were significantly higher than novice scores on both trainers.
• VBLaST-PC© and VBLaST-LL© tasks successfully discriminated between novice and expert skill levels.

Conclusions:

• VBLaST© performance is comparable to FLS trainer performance.
• VBLaST© tasks demonstrate discriminant validity, differentiating skill levels.
• Further studies are needed for full validation, but VBLaST© is expected to enhance laparoscopic skills training.