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Assessing bimanual performance in brain tumor resection with NeuroTouch, a virtual reality simulator
Fahad E Alotaibi1, Gmaan A AlZhrani, Muhammad A S Mullah
1*Neurosurgical Simulation Research Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; ‡Department of Neurosurgery, National Neuroscience Institute, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; §Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; ¶Faculty of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh Saudi Arabia; ‖Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tehran Polytechnic, Tehran, Iran.
The NeuroTouch simulator effectively differentiates novice from expert neurosurgical skills in simulated brain tumor resection, validating its use for training and assessment.
Area of Science:
- Neurosurgery
- Medical Simulation
- Surgical Skill Assessment
Background:
- Objective measurement of neurosurgical bimanual psychomotor skills is lacking.
- The NeuroTouch simulator offers bimanual performance metrics requiring validation for training and curriculum development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop, evaluate, and validate neurosurgical bimanual performance metrics using the NeuroTouch simulator for simulated brain tumor resection.
Main Methods:
- Bimanual resection of 8 simulated brain tumors with varying complexity was performed.
- Metrics included blood loss, resection percentage, normal brain removed, path lengths, forces, efficiency, and coordination indices.
- Six neurosurgeons and 12 residents (senior and junior) were evaluated.
Main Results:
- Increased tumor complexity disproportionately affected resident performance compared to neurosurgeons.
- Tumor color and stiffness influenced blood loss and resection rates.
- Significant differences in performance metrics were observed between neurosurgeons and residents at different training levels.
Conclusions:
- The NeuroTouch platform and its metrics successfully differentiate novice from expert neurosurgical performance.
- The study demonstrates face, content, and construct validity of the NeuroTouch simulator.
- NeuroTouch has the potential to establish proficiency benchmarks for brain tumor resection.
