Construct validity of eoSim - a low-cost and portable laparoscopic simulator.

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Medical Simulation
• Motion Analysis in Surgery

Background:

• Assessing laparoscopic surgical skills is crucial for patient safety and effective training.
• Low-cost, portable simulators are needed to broaden access to surgical skills training.
• Motion analysis provides objective metrics for evaluating surgical performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the construct validity of the eoSim laparoscopic simulator.
• To determine if motion analysis metrics can differentiate between novice and experienced surgeons using the eoSim.

Main Methods:

• Novice and experienced surgeons performed four standardized tasks on the eoSim simulator.
• SurgTrac software was used to record motion analysis metrics, including time, distance, speed, and smoothness.
• Key metrics were compared between novice (n=22) and experienced (n=14) surgeon groups.

Main Results:

• Experienced surgeons were faster and traveled shorter distances on most tasks (p≤0.001).
• Significant differences in handedness (left vs. right hand use) were observed for three tasks (p≤0.025).
• The eoSim successfully differentiated skill levels in intracorporeal suture and tie, tube ligation, and precision cutting.

Conclusions:

• The eoSim demonstrates construct validity by differentiating surgical skill levels.
• It provides a reliable and convenient method for assessing basic laparoscopic skills.
• This simulator can be a valuable tool for surgical departments to implement skills testing.