Improving vision for surgeons during laparoscopy: the Enhanced Laparoscopic Vision System (ELViS)

Area of Science:

• Surgical Innovation
• Medical Imaging Technology
• Minimally Invasive Surgery

Background:

• Laparoscopy offers patient recovery benefits over laparotomy but has surgeon blind spots.
• Existing alternative camera systems lack resolution, robustness, or real-time imaging for surgery.
• The Enhanced Laparoscopic Vision System (ELViS) aims to provide a broad surgical view alongside high-resolution endoscopy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the added value and usability of the Enhanced Laparoscopic Vision System (ELViS).
• To assess the performance of ELViS in a live animal model compared to conventional laparoscopy.

Main Methods:

• Expert laparoscopy surgeons performed procedures on a live pig model using conventional endoscopy and ELViS.
• Time-to-completion for surgical tasks was measured.
• Surgeon usability was assessed via interviews and the System Usability Scale (SUS).

Main Results:

• ELViS proof of concept was achieved in an animal model with no adverse events.
• No significant difference in time-to-completion was observed between conventional and ELViS-assisted surgery.
• The mean SUS score for ELViS was 74.7, indicating "good" usability, with surgeons noting advantages in specific surgical scenarios.

Conclusions:

• The ELViS prototype demonstrated good usability and feasibility in a live animal model.
• The study provided valuable feedback for the further development of the ELViS.
• ELViS shows promise for improving surgical field visualization in laparoscopy.