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Nondominant Hand Skills Spatial and Psychomotor Analysis During a Complex Virtual Reality Neurosurgical Task-A Case
Recai Yilmaz1, Nicole Ledwos1, Robin Sawaya1
1Neurosurgical Simulation and Artificial Intelligence Learning Centre, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Operative Neurosurgery (Hagerstown, Md.)
|June 21, 2022
Summary
Virtual reality surgical simulators can assess nondominant hand skills in neurosurgery. Expert neurosurgeons showed refined bipolar forceps use, offering valuable training insights for surgical trainees.
Area of Science:
- Neurosurgery
- Surgical Simulation
- Medical Education
Background:
- The nondominant hand is crucial in neurosurgery for exposure, assistance, and hemostasis.
- Understanding expert nondominant hand skills is key for surgical training and expertise assessment.
- Virtual reality (VR) surgical simulators offer detailed psychomotor performance data for hand function analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- Validate a simulated bimanual subpial tumor resection task using VR.
- Evaluate nondominant hand skills, specifically bipolar forceps use, through simulation.
- Provide qualitative and quantitative feedback for surgical trainees.
Main Methods:
- A case series study involving 45 right-handed participants.
- Simulated subpial tumor resection using bipolar forceps in the nondominant hand.
- Assessment of task validity via a 10-item questionnaire and analysis of skills across four expertise levels (neurosurgeons, senior trainees, junior trainees, medical students) using visual models and performance metrics.
Main Results:
- High participant satisfaction with the simulated scenario (median 4.0/5.0).
- Expertise correlated with reduced high force application on the pial surface.
- Neurosurgeons and senior trainees demonstrated more focused bipolar-pia mater interactions around the tumor and spent more time using the bipolar forceps on the pia.
Conclusions:
- This study presents novel methods for evaluating nondominant hand skills in surgery.
- The VR simulation provides valuable qualitative and quantitative feedback for surgical trainees.
- The findings can aid in understanding and training expert-level nondominant hand function in neurosurgery.
