Objective assessment based on motion-related metrics and technical performance in laparoscopic suturing

Area of Science:

• Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Surgical Skill Assessment
• Medical Simulation

Background:

• Objective assessment of psychomotor skills in laparoscopic surgery is crucial for training.
• Traditional assessment methods can be subjective and time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate a novel motion-tracking method for laparoscopic instruments using an optical pose tracker.
• To assess its feasibility as an objective tool for evaluating psychomotor skills in laparoscopic suturing.

Main Methods:

• Surgeons of varying experience levels performed intracorporeal sutures on porcine stomachs.
• A motion-tracking system recorded instrument movements, generating 10 metrics.
• Construct validity was assessed across experience groups, and concurrent validity against a checklist.

Main Results:

• Execution time and path length showed construct validity, differentiating surgeon experience levels.
• Experienced surgeons demonstrated significantly better performance in time, path length, and workspace efficiency.
• Strong correlations were found between motion metrics (execution time, path length) and checklist scores.

Conclusions:

• The motion-analysis method effectively assesses laparoscopic suturing performance, demonstrating construct and concurrent validity for key metrics.
• This technology offers a viable approach for the objective evaluation of psychomotor skills in surgical training.
• Future research will integrate motion analysis with qualitative outcome evaluation for comprehensive performance assessment.